Readings for today: 2 Kings 1-2, Acts 13:42-14:7, Psalms 139, Proverbs 17:19-21
God desires intimacy with His people. The real question is do we desire intimacy with Him? I think of the desire for intimacy that drove Elisha to pursue Elijah and stick with him as his time on earth drew to a close. Elisha could feel the loss coming. His grief was beginning to build. He wanted to make sure he treasured every moment. He wanted to see Elijah’s ascendence into heaven. He wanted to be there are the very moment when the heavens opened to receive his mentor.
I think of the Gentiles who responded to Paul’s preaching. The hunger and thirst they exhibited for God. The way they rejoiced when they heard how much God loved them and longed for a relationship with him. The way entire cities would turn out to hear to the Good News.
God desires intimacy with His people. Psalm 139 makes this clear. He searches us and knows us. He discerns our thoughts and emotions. He knows every word before we say it. Every action before we take it. He surrounds us and hems us in on every side. There is no place we can go to get away from Him. Nowhere we can run. Nowhere we can hide. He is in the highest of heavens and the depths of the earth. He is with us even when we go across the seas. No matter where life finds us, His hand is with us. He holds us fast.
God knows us intimately. He shaped and formed us in our mother’s wombs. He carefully crafted each and every part. There is nothing we do or say or think that He does not see. God knows us as we are and He loves us as we are but He also loves us too much to leave us there. This is why our frame is not hidden from him. This is why our unformed substance is not a secret to Him. He is with us. He is leading us. He is reaching out to us. He longs for us to turn and pursue intimacy with Him.
How do we pursue intimacy with Christ? Prayer. How do we grow a hunger and thirst for God? Spending time meditating on His Word. How do we develop a passion for a relationship with God? Simply sitting and cultivating a deep awareness of His abiding presence. Friends, let me encourage you to make these words from Psalms 139 your prayer today - “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you…Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”
Readings for tomorrow: 2 Kings 3:1-4:17, Acts 14:8-28, Psalms 140, Proverbs 17:22