One of the most mindboggling facts of living is we were made to enjoy intimacy with God. That’s amazing. The One who created us and everything else in the universe wants to have an intimate relationship with each of us. He doesn’t just want to know us casually, He wants to know us inside out and to be involved in everything we do.
The fact we so often reject His offer is hard to believe. Imagine if Jesus came to your door wanting to hang out. Would you turn Him away because you were too busy or had better things to do? We do the same thing to God every day and think nothing of it.
The reason for intimacy with God is twofold. Not only does He want to know you because He loves you, He also wants to overfill you with His Spirit so you can in turn pour His love into the lives of others. Jesus doesn’t want to simply fill you with His love, He wants to overfill you so you can share with everyone with whom you come into contact. He wants you and me to look just like Him. When you have an intimate relationship with another, you can talk without talking. You are aware of what the other is thinking and what their next move is likely to be. That’s how close we should desire to be with God.
Micah 6:8 says, “He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.” It’s what intimacy with God will do for your life. When you are breathing in Jesus, you will breathe out His character and glory. You will walk, talk, and look like Him. You will do the right thing regardless of the circumstance or who is looking. Staying faithful to Christ will be the only important thing to you. Humility will mark your life; when people see you, they will see Jesus.
The closer we get to God, the more we will be filled with things of His nature. We will love others more. We’ll be more merciful and compassionate. Intimacy with God brings all of this into our lives. As Rick Antonucci says in “Renegade”, “We need God pouring into us so we can be poured out for others. Without intimacy with God, we have little (if anything) to give.” If we want to live a life of significance, we will need to have intimacy with God.
As cool as it is to know God desires an intimate relationship with us, it’s even better to know we can impart this relationship to others. The only way to achieve intimacy with God is to obey His commands and live the way He did. We must act justly, be faithful to Him, and be humble in our service to others. As we practice these things our intimacy with God will continue to grow. It was for this we were created, and we must share from our overflow. Intimacy with God is not to be hoarded; it is meant to be shared.