Sorry G.I. Joe, Knowing is NOT half the battle

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For the past few days I've been reflecting on a conversation I had with two of my close friends and have come to a line of questions that is greatly perplexing to me. If God’s deepest longing is to know us and for us to know him, then where does my obsession of understanding what that means (whether that understanding be metaphorically, theologically, logistically, etc…) come in to play? After a great while of contemplation, the Spirit suddenly whispered, “Enoch.” Enoch? What’s he got to do with this. Then it hit me, here is what Genesis chapter 5 has to say about ole’ Enoch:

"18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. 19 And after he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 Altogether, Jared lived 962 years, and then he died. 21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away."

I think it is safe to conclude that Enoch’s walk with God simply means that he had a relationship with God. Then I realized that knowing someone will normally result in understanding them. However, the opposite is NOT true. Understanding someone will very likely NEVER result in knowing them. For example, I know alot about the Roman emporer Constantine, but that doesn't mean I know him, the person. Likewise, I know what people write about themselves in the infamous "about me" sections of blogs/mySpace/etc, but those are mere facts about themselves (hence the title of the section).

So, again, why does it matter whether or not we "understand" God, his ways, his will, his nature, etc. Wouldn't our time be better spent by striving to grow in the relationship we have with God, i.e. the unity we have in and with him? I have a sneaking suspicion that understanding would flow out of that knowing, out of that relationship, out of that unity.