Packer says that knowing God "is crucially important in living our lives...we're cruel to ourselves if we try to live in this world without knowing the God who owns and runs it. The world becomes a strange, mad, painful place, and life in it a disappointing and unpleasant business, for those who don't know God. Disregard knowing God and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, with no sense of direction, no understanding of what surrounds you."