I think it’s crucial that we recognize an important truth: intimacy with God is His idea.
It is God that wants this relationship with us. It is God that pursues us!
In his book Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby writes,
“He (God) is the One who pursues the love relationship with us. We do not naturally seek God on our own initiative. Everything we are experiencing from God comes in response to His invitation.”
We didn’t decide one day that it might be good to have a personal relationship with the God of the universe. Who does that?
No, the only reason we could even imagine the possibility of this relationship is because God placed His desire deep within each one of us. When we choose to spend time with Jesus, we are responding to His desire to love us.
Even before He made the world…
In his letter to the Ephesians Paul writes,
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ…” (Ephesians 1:4)
Paul tells us that before the very first act of creation, God already loved us. He loved you! He was thinking about you and what it would take for you to be with Him, to know Him and to love Him.
This is simply unimaginable, so much so that God had to tell us this Himself. But this is the story of creation, that even before He made us, He loved us and wanted to be with us and us with Him. That even before He made you, He chose you to be His very own.
The desire of His heart
What is the desire of His heart?
We think about our own desires quite a bit. I know I do! How often do we think about what God wants? We may think about it in terms of how He wants us to act or things He wants us to do. But what is the great desire that lives in the heart of God?
I think we find it in John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
God’s great desire is to know us and love us, and for us to know Him and love Him. God had to give His Son to die to make this possible. And He did. All so we could be with Him.
The focus of our lives
If intimacy with God is His idea and His desire, and considering all He has done to make it possible, how can we not make this relationship the focus of our lives? There is nothing more important or valuable we can do with our lives than to give God the desire of His heart, which is an intimate relationship with us.
When we recognize the value God places on this relationship with us, and that it required the death of His Son on a cross, we will know how much He longs for this relationship. And if God wants a relationship with me that much, I want Him to have it!
Next steps
This week, while you are giving God the desire of His heart by spending time with Jesus, pray and talk with Him about these things:
- Intimacy with God is His idea.
- The desire of God is to have a deep, personal, daily relationship with you.
- What else can you do to give God the desire of His heart?
Let me repeat: the only reason we could even imagine the possibility of an intimate relationship with God is because He placed His desire deep within each one of us. When we choose to spend time with Jesus, we are responding to His desire to love us.
I’m praying for you!