“A major source of emotional pain is lack of intimacy. Alienation from the love of God is a basic human problem. Reconciliation to God along with restoration of His love and acceptance is the only complete answer. People develop a true sense of identity when they realize that God loves them unconditionally. People who find their identity in a loving relationship with God do not have to depend on others to establish their self-identity.”
Our God is a personal, knowable God who calls us his children. We can develop intimacy with Him by drawling close and listening to His voice. James chapter 4 verse 8 says this, “Draw close to God and He will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.” Intimacy with the Lord is something so sacred and to be treasured, however it not something to be idolized or jealous of, its extended to each of us. In my own life I have experienced jealousy when I see other believers in such deep communion with our heavenly Father and I wonder why the Lord doesn’t take me to those secret places with Him as well. But if you look again at James 4:8 you will see that it first says to sit in the Fathers feet and He’ll then pick you up and sit you on his lap. The invitation for intimacy with God is always extended to us and while the Father’s love is constantly pursuing we have free will to choose intimacy.
Think about a dating couple. As a man pursues a lady he invites her on a date. At this point it is up to the woman to accept or decline the invitation extended to her by her pursuer. The man has the date planned all He needs is the woman’s ‘yes’ and he will take it from there. The man cannot force her on a date, only invite. If the woman declines, yet the man has his heart set on her he will continue to pursue and invite her out on dates. The invitation for intimacy with Christ has already been given to each believer. The date has been planned, all the Lord needs is our yes and He will do the rest. The Lord’s love for his children is like a young man in love, he will do whatever it takes to get the girl but at some point, the love must be returned, or it is not true love and intimacy. It absolutely blows my mind that the creator of all things wants to be intimate with me.
The second half of this verse says to wash your hands and purify your heart, for with out this your loyalty to the Lord is divided. When above I mentioned giving your yes to the Lord, this is an acceptance of the invitation that has been extended to you. To accept such and honored invitation, we must first wash our hands and purify our hearts. With out this our hearts and minds will be too focused and filled with our own agenda to receive what the Lord wants to speak to us during our time of intimacy with Him.
