As I write this, there are nineteen days to go until Major League Baseball’s Opening Day 2026. As a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, I start counting the days in November and don’t stop until the ballpark organ hits that glorious chord, the clouds part, and the baseball choir sings “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch. Growing up, my favorite player was Ryne Sandberg. I could tell you a few things about Sandberg. For instance, I could tell you that Ryno (his nickname) was from Spokane, WA, he debuted with the Phillies in 1981, he skyrocketed to baseball icon status as the second baseman for the Cubs, he played the famous “Sandberg game” on June 23, 1984 against those pathetic St. Louis Cardinals, and that he was a ten time All-Star and a nine time Gold Glover, and he became a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005. I could even tell you that I have a framed number 23 Sandberg Jersey hanging in my home that bears his signature. He married twice, had two children, and converted to Catholicism after his second marriage.
But here’s the kicker—I never met Ryne Sandberg. The closest I ever got was sitting on the third base line at Wrigley and watching him play jaw-dropping defense and hit homers onto Waveland Avenue. And yet, when he died last year, I cried like I’d lost a friend. But make no mistake, knowing facts about someone isn’t the same as actually knowing a person.
But here’s the sobering part—the same can be true about our relationship with Jesus. It’s possible to read the Bible from cover to cover and learn lots of facts about Jesus—but not really know Jesus. But Jesus doesn’t want us just to know facts about Him—He wants us to be in an ongoing and lasting relationship with Him. Just before going to the cross, Jesus had a conversation with His disciples. They didn’t understand what was about to take place, and they were shaken. Jesus’s disciples had followed Him for three years and these men loved Him. Jesus described what having a relationship with Him would look like moving forward:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:5-7).
Jesus was a Master Teacher, so He used an agricultural illustration that everyone in that culture would understand. Jesus described Himself as the vine and His disciples (and believers in coming generations) as the branches. A branch is dependent on a vine for nourishment, and if a branch disconnects from the vine, it will quickly become malnourished and die. In the same way, Jesus instructs His followers to abide (or some translations say ‘remain’) in Him in such a way that you draw your strength, power, and vitality from Him. What Jesus is describing is a living relationship.
As you approach your Bible reading, remember the Bible is God’s Word and an essential part of your relationship with Jesus. As you read the Scriptures, you’ll learn to recognize Jesus’s voice and His ways. As you go about your day and see things that align with what the Bible teaches, you can be confident that God approves of those things. On the other hand, when you are confronted with things that are in violation of Scripture, you can be certain that God disapproves. You can know without a doubt that Jesus will never lead you to do something that is in violation of His Word. There is no shortcut for knowing Jesus, and the path to intimacy travels through the Scriptures. But it’s the pursuit of a lifetime and one you don’t want to miss. Jesus described it like this: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).
We’d be fools to settle for anything less.
