KNOW A FEW THINGS about some of the people who attend my church in Naples, Florida.

Nancy Wall has more than 30 fruit trees in her yard--two kinds of persimmon, four kinds of mango, 14 different kinds of citrus, and a number of other tropical fruits. Sterling Anderson's parents were charter members of this church and were involved in building it. Several of our members have served as missionaries.

At least two members of our church are part native American, several are Jewish, and two are Romanian. Others are from Germany, Jamaica, St. Croix, Colombia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Lebanon, Canada, and Australia. Patrick, a young man who was baptized several months ago, is from the far-off islands of Hawaii.

Various influences were responsible for each of our members becoming Adventists. All have their story. Some became Adventists because of a grandmother. Others because of a wife, a husband, a parent, a child, a book by Ellen White, Pathfinders, a Bible correspondence course, church school, a Sabbath school teacher, the Voice of Prophecy, an evangelistic series, a friend, or the pastor. The Spirit moves in different ways and through different people to lead us to Jesus.

Lorabel Herach prays every morning that God will help her find someone that day who needs help, someone to reach out to. She says her prayer is always answered.

Between four and eight children of the church sing one or two specials every week at the Wednesday evening Simply Bible service.

One of our members shook hands with the archbishop of Canterbury. At least two couples in our church are expecting to become parents in the next few months (as I write this). Ruth Barber is a cake decorator, and when the Open Circle Sabbath school class sponsors fellowship dinner, she's the "boss" of the kitchen. Debora Mosby, who teaches in one of the county public schools, received a Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching. Wendy Williams plays the bassoon.

Even more important
These pieces of information about some of the people who attend my church are interesting to me, but they are not the most important things to know about them.

Every time we pray "Our Father," we acknowledge that we are children of the king of the universe and that every other person in the world is a child of the king. That's the most important thing about myself and all the others who attend my church. "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!" writes the apostle John. "Beloved, now we are children of God" (1 John 3:1, 2, NKJV).

No wonder Jesus pointed out that each one of us has great value: "Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows" (Luke 12:6, 7, NKJV).

A speaker at our church held up a $10 bill and asked, "Who would like this $10 bill?" Many hands went up.

"I am going to give it to one of you," he said. "But first, let me do this." Then he crumpled up the bill.

"Who still wants it?" he asked. Hands were held high.

"Well," he said, "what if I do this?" With that, he dropped the bill, ground it with his shoe, and picked it up, crumpled and dirty.

"Now, who still wants it?" Hands were waving.

He held out the $10 bill and said, "If you really want it, you will get it." He paused and then said, "If you really want it, you will get it." The face of one of the senior women in the congregation lit up, and she rushed to the rostrum, reached out, and received the crumpled bill.

Two Valuable lessons
1. No matter what the speaker did to the money, we still wanted it, because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $10.

Many times in our lives we are dropped, crumpled, ground into the dirt, and soiled by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel that we're worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, we never lose our value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, we're still priceless to those who love us. We're still priceless to God.

That's the most important thing that we need to know about ourselves, the most important thing we need to know about one another. And out of that knowledge we should seek out one another's fellowship. We should seek to know one another better.

The day will come when we will know one another better than we do now. "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" (1 Cor. 13:12).

2. If we want something of value that's been presented to us--a friendship, an education, a lifework, salvation, we shouldn't just sit still. We should reach out and take it.

In the prayer Jesus prayed in the upper room, He tells us how important it is to know the right people: "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3, NKJV).

Knowing about God is not enough. We need to be able to say with Paul, "I know whom I have believed" (2 Tim. 1:12). It's important that we know whom we have believed. It's important that we know God.

But even more significant is to be known--to be known by God.

We can do nothing to cause God to know us. We can do nothing to be saved. Our only hope is Him. We can do something, however, to be lost. We can refuse to receive what God offers us. We can reject Jesus. We can refuse to be known by Him.

The time will come when in sorrow Jesus will say, "I never knew you: depart from me" (Matt. 7:23).

The Ultimate Anguish
Nothing worse can happen to a person than to hear from their Maker and Savior the words "I never knew you." To hear those words will be worse than having the rocks and mountains fall on us. To be cast into the lake of fire and eternally destroyed will be a welcome relief from the anguish generated by the words from Jesus, "I do not know you" (Matt. 25:12, NKJV).

We need never experience such anguish. Right now salvation can be ours. Right now God is tapping each one of us on the shoulder and saying, "I know you. I know you intimately. I knew your name before you were born. I know all about you. Every moment I know the very number of the hairs on your head. I know your DNA. I know your hereditary strengths and weaknesses. I know where you were born.

I know the family and social influences that have affected you. I knew you before the foundation of the world and made provision for your eternal salvation. I had you in mind as I hung upon the cross." "See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands" (Isa. 49:16, NKJV).

God knows us far better than we know each other. He knows us better than we know ourselves. And yet He loves us. Our value is measured by the price He paid on Calvary. To Him, each of us is a pearl of great price for which He gave all.

It is amazing that in spite of the fact that God knows we've been crumpled, dropped, ground down, and soiled, we can still hear one day, through His grace, that divine commendation "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Such amazing grace! More important than any knowledge we might have is to be known by such a Savior. Not because of anything we have done, but because of what He has done through us, we shall be welcomed into His eternal kingdom. "I know you," He will say. "Enter through the gates into the city."

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R. Lynn Sauls wrote this article when he was a member of the Naples, Florida, Adventist Church. He now lives near Collegedale, Tennessee.