Intimacy

Be intimate with me! Be intimate with me! That is the cry I hear in my heart, my soul, and my spirit.

Jesus calling me into intimacy. Intimacy with Jesus is a scary place to be. Actually like any relationship intimacy is scary. The definition alone tells you why: Most private or personal, very close or familiar, deep and thorough. Jesus wants the most private parts of my life. He wants to be close to me. He wants the deep heart and He wants to be thorough and familiar to me.

Yikes! All those places I keep hidden, He's already seen them. He wants permission and freedom to be there again. He wants my soul lain out and bare before Him. How painful!

Any relationship that becomes intimate is risky because it requires sacrifice and openness on both ends. Belief that if I lay out my deepest parts they are safe and secure. Plus, the assurance that the other persons are out there too. Security in each other's closeness. Intimacy requires trust.

Trust is dependant on honesty. Honesty is dependant on… well, your willingness to tell the truth. Truth. Relationships, especially intimate ones, are based on truth.

So if Jesus is calling me to a place of intimacy – He's calling me to a place of truth. No more lies and convenience of spinning the truth my way. But plain, cold hard facts.

Maybe that's why intimacy is so hard. Truth is revealing and very difficult to handle sometimes. Especially when it comes to someone we love pointing out something in our lives that is not so great. Painful, because lies are easier, and truth cuts to the heart.

But you see, Jesus is calling me to intimacy and I have to answer Him. Yes or No? Intimacy- as we've already discussed is not a one-way street. It's risky on both sides.

But with Jesus it's different. He's already seen my heart, my soul, and my deepest, darkest place. He's already laid everything out there for me. He even sacrificed His life, His heart spilled out and His body broken…. all for the chance to be intimate with me!

My deepest parts are safe with Him because He created them. He knows my name. He planned out my life and He's even counted the hairs on my head.
The choice to be made here is not whether I'm safe or not. It's not even a choice of revealing myself. The choice is whether I trust Him or not. The choice is whether I can be honest with Him or not. The choice is do I want to deal with the truth… or lies?

Jesus is persistent and faithful. I am flimsy and unfaithful. The risk is more on His side than mine. He knows the truth and I only deny it. He has written the truth and I ignore it. He is the truth and I defy Him.

So, the choice to be made and the calling to be answered. If He could place His life down only to be denied, ignored and defied… then I can surely lay my heart down to be loved, cared for and adored. My only risk is in growing, which can be painful… but the joy of being with my Savior…as intimate lovers for eternity…what a priceless deal!!!

June 2005