In every relationship there is responsibility.
Think about, for one moment, if you will, your closest relationship. Maybe that is your relationship with your mom or dad. Maybe it is with your brother or sister. Or maybe your closest relationship is with a friend you’ve known your whole life or your spouse. Whichever relationship you thought of for that moment, I imagine it is a relationship in which you believe that person truly knows you. Not just kind of knows you, but really, really knows who you are inside and out. The Hebrew language has a word for this. It’s called “Yada”. Yada refers to the intimate knowledge of someone. It is the discovery, revelation, and wholeness of a relationship. It is as close as close can get.
In Luke 1:57-80 we get a picture of Yada. Zacharias and Elizabeth have just received the blessing of their son, John. They are well advanced in age. John is truly an incredible gift as Elizabeth had been barren. Zacharias speaks to his son (who is only eight days old) and tells him who he is. John’s dad knows who he is and affirms him and what he will do.
In every relationship there is responsibility. Knowing who we are will always lead us to what we do. In John 15:5 Jesus says, “I am the vine, and you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.” Jesus is saying that when we spend time with Him we will discover who we are and we will know what to do.
Yada is always accompanied by another beautiful Hebrew word – Shalom. Many of us know Shalom to be “Peace”. However, Shalom is so much more. Shalom is the connection, the harmony, the unity, and the peace of relationship. It is the oneness that happens with those whom you are closest.
Yada and Shalom. Intimacy and Oneness. It is the heart of God. It is what we all long for. It is what the loving father Zacharias had with his son John who would prepare the way of Jesus.
Our prayer is that Yada and Shalom would begin in your life with Jesus and spread to others fulfilling Jesus’ greatest commandment – to love God and love others.
