The myth of safe...

"Myth: a popular belief or assumption that has grown up around someone or something 
Safe: unlikely to produce controversy or contradiction
(http://www.merriam-webster.com)"
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Intimacy with another person is a passionate desire rooted in the heart of every individual.  At some point in every person's life, the desire for intimacy with God can also be found in each heart.  The former is, at least physically, becoming much more easily known in this generation; whereas, the latter is a bit more difficult to realize in these days where deception masquerades as truth.

Reading through the Scriptures gives us a glimpse of how intimacy with God can be achieved.  I was thinking about the word "seed" earlier, and how it is used throughout the Bible.  A seed is commonly referred to as something that is planted in dirt to, hopefully, grow into maturity and be useful for humanity.  Seed is also used as a metaphor of a man's sperm; the idea being that when it is planted in a woman, what is produced will also grow into maturity, and be useful to humanity for the glory of God.  In the Book of James (Chapter 1), sin and God's word are both used metaphorically: his testimony is that when sin is allowed to grow, it produces death; however, obedience to the word of God produces much fruit.

As I was pondering the relationship of seed, Scripture, and intimacy with our Creator, the story of Tamar (Genesis 38) came to mind.  In that story, Tamar is initially given to the eldest son of Judah, but God kills him due to his wickedness.  Then she is given to Judah's next son to produce an heir, but that son didn't like the situation he was put in, and decided that his seed would not be used for the purpose to which it was intended.  God killed him, too.  Tamar finds herself in a hopeless situation - childless and without a husband - until she devises a plan which ends with her producing 2 sons, as well as receiving a declaration of her righteousness.

Looking at these relationships and situations through the dim light that our world gives today, they may seem odd and confusing; perhaps, though, using the light that Christ gives as a comparison, we can hope to gain a more comprehensive understanding of intimacy and its relationship with righteousness.  As we study Jesus' teaching in John 3, we are offered instruction on what it means to have God's Spirit maturing our spirit.  He includes a somber look at the reality that even those who should know what He is talking about, still have extreme difficulty understanding the depth of His words.  In verse 12, Jesus says, "I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?"

Too often in our world, God's Word is covered over, masked to the point that it cannot properly penetrate each human heart to implant what it is designed and intended to.  When we enjoy the false security of our current situation - not pursuant of transformational change - we behave like Judah's second son.  We go through some of the motions of intimacy, but our only real interest is in producing something for ourselves; our selfish nature insures that we will not produce anything capable of glorifying God.  When we stubbornly hold on to the comforts of our humanity, the righteousness of God will not be manifested in our life.


I hope that, whoever reads this blog entry, forgives the innuendo of its title.  The desire for passionate intimacy with God should never, ever be compared to the kinds of temporary, pseudo-intimate, but wholly physical relationships that are now rather commonplace in our world.  Though it would be good to know that those kinds of relationships ought to be relegated to mythology - with their passions rooted in selfishness, they are wholly incapable of producing intimacy which truly satisfies the desires of a human heart; people who are tempted to give themselves over to those relationships would be wise to learn, sooner rather than later, that they will eventually be left with nothing but emptiness - this blog entry is really just an attempt to share the truth regarding misconceptions many people currently seem to have regarding spiritual intimacy with God.

These days, physical barriers hindering the reproduction of humanity are commonly used during times of physical intimacy.  These are known to be very effective for insuring that there will not be as many people born - to be useful to humanity and for the glory of God - as the act of physical intimacy is capable of producing.  The exact decrease cannot be as certain as the fact that there will still be fewer people growing and maturing.  Likewise, we must realize that there are many barriers surrounding us these days hindering spiritual growth.  These deceptive practices serve to guard against true spiritual intimacy with God and what would be produced in us - and reproduced by us - if we really desired to know Him with all our hearts.