In today's second reading John tells us that we can truly say that we love God only when we keep his commandments. In a memorable sentence in his "Penguin New Testament Commentary on John" (Penguin Books 1968 p.34) John Marsh sums up the meaning of "knowing" God as it is presented in the gospel, "The knowledge John would bring to men is not pure intellection; it is a response of mind and heart and will to an acceptance of and trust in what God has done, in the gratitude of obedience and the devotion of love."

The very existence of a commentary like Marsh's proves the absolute necessity that at least some of us should know as much as possible about God and that all of us would benefit by at least some "book knowledge" of Him. Our Christian belief does not, however, stop at a scholarly or admiring or artistic appreciation of a beautiful story or a noble character.

In its fullness our belief is an active embrace of a way of life. This way of life may, indeed, make demands on us. Progressively, however, it engrosses us so that, for much of the time, we may not think that we are doing anything particularly unusual. We won't be pausing from time to time to gaze admiringly at our achievements. Only rarely, but satisfyingly, will it strike us that our lives have been upgraded in meaning and value.