Intimacy with God

The Bible says multiple times that God is jealous for us. I love that. =) He longs for an intimate relationship with us and doesn’t want us loving anything more than we love Him.

How would you define “intimate” in this instance? I’ve heard this word used on a very regular basis when referring to our relationship with God. Usually when I think of the word “intimate” I correlate it with a husband & wife; a close and personal, even sexual relationship… In this instance, I think the word connotes a different form of closeness, I’ve just never been quite sure how to describe it. So I did a little thinking.  “Intimate”, defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, means “to make known especially publicly or formally.” A few antonyms are “announce, declare, elucidate, explain, spell out…” Hmm… So, in essence, when a relationship has reached the level in which it would be deemed “intimate”, it would be declaring that relationship to the world, making it public knowledge. Makes sense, right? I mean who knows of a couple in mushy gushy love that isn’t dying to make sure every single person knows it?! ;) You’d say a couple like that has an “intimate relationship” right? So that’s a good way to think of it. That’s what God wants our relationship with Him to emulate! If you have that kind of relationship with God it should show and be unashamedly public, just like you would declare your love for your special someone!

Here are just a few of the Bible verses I found on God’s jealousy and desire for us.

Deuteronomy 6.15 “For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you…”

Deuteronomy 10.12 “…what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul”

Deuteronomy 6.5 “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

God longs for an individual, intimate relationship with each and every one of us.

Food for thought-- What is in your life that you are allowing to get in between your intimacy with God? Are you embarrassed to declare your love for Him because of what others might think? Do you truly love Him?