Christian: I thought about this yesterday: Why should we desire intimacy with God? I understand that there are benefits, but should this really be the chief end of Christians? Or should intimacy with God be a means to an end?

Faithful: Is it the chief end at all? After all, what is our purpose for being on earth... for existence? Is it not to worship God? Perhaps in some circles, the focus is primarily on "growing closer" to God, but in the vastness of Christianity, the understanding is pretty keyed toward the focus being worship and service. I see the desire for intimacy as an outgrowth of that. After all, the belief that God has placed in us some sort of natural desire for Him seems pretty common. So if there is some sort of natural desire, why are we surprised when that's what people verbally and actively seek? On the other hand, is it healthy to continuously attempt to go "deeper?" At what point do we have to put down everything and live like Jesus, considering how much easier it is to "worship" Him rather than actually put our hand to the plow and LIVE LIKE HIM?

Hopeful: I would say that the main problem I see with the intimacy issue is that there is a temptation to seek it simply for the experience. That will get a person nowhere, but that person still might report back that he/she got chills or some other "evidence" of true intimacy. If a person is seeking true intimacy, I believe that it will be shown in part that the person doesn't broadcast it and that the person is focusing more on God than whatever feeling or phenomenon might be associated with it. Also, Faithful has a good point that intimacy doesn't just mean what happens in a worship service. It refers to the way you live your life. A person deeply intimate with God doesn't stop seeking Him when he has left the worship service.

Christian: The fact that I ask, "Why seek intimacy with God?" implies it's not the chief end at all. If it were, the answer to the question would be the chief end. So why be intimate with God? Two that I've thought of are: 1) To better carry out His will and 2) To be able to trust Him more. So these two would be closer to the chief end of Christians, in my opinion. Matthew 6:33 says to "seek His kingdom" and "seek His righteousness." I think it's interesting that Jesus doesn't speak so much about having deeper intimacy with God as He does of these in His teachings. I'd say, our chief end in this world is to seek to spread God's work and His Word, and to seek to be righteous as He is. That would mean that the MEANS to come to this end is to seek Him. (Of course, one would rightly say that our chief end is to love Him, but our love for Him is based on God's standard of love--not on our feelings of love for Him, so our chief end is to love Him as He desires to be loved.)

Faithful: There is another angle to consider. Why should we seek intimacy with God, you ask? Well, why should God seek intimacy with us? It seems that God definitely desires intimacy with us and for seemingly incredible reasons. If the Creator desires intimacy with us, it only stands to reason that his creation would indeed reach back up for intimacy with Him. One of the reasons the Bible mentions that we love is because He first loved us. Of course, love without action is a weak love, at best. At worst, it is a poor excuse for a love that could have been but chooses instead to torment the one who longs to receive true love.

Hopeful: The way I see it, intimacy that does not prioritize God and His desires for your life is not intimacy at all. Intimacy with God cannot be self-centered. I think it is a shame that a person would seek this intimacy for personal reasons, but whoever does that never truly becomes intimate with God. I don't see desire for intimacy with God as a problem. I do see misplaced priorities that have the facade of a desire for intimacy with God.

Christian: I don't discount that God desires to be intimate with us. I do wonder if that's God's ultimate goal for us. The way I see it, there are reasons why God wants to be intimate with us--and those are the ultimate goals. I mentioned in my last post that the ultimate goal for Christians is to love God the way He desires to be loved.

So do we have any thoughts on how we believe God wants to be loved? Does He want us to spend as much time as we can each day in prayer? Or does He want us to leave our prayer closet and help others throughout the day? I think I'm coming to grips that to love God means to do His will--to do as He desires. Then we are loving Him as He desires. Intimacy with God...love for God...faith in God...show me by your works--otherwise don't talk (or even sing?) about it.

Hopeful: What is God's goal for us if it is not intimacy with Him? Why does intimacy with God automatically bring this connotation that it has to be solely in the "prayer closet"? I think that the way you live your everyday life both determines and is molded by your intimacy with God. I also think that intimacy with Him should be paramount in a Christian's life, but that because that intimacy is so deep it becomes ingrained in all of that person's life. Being intimate means "Relating to or indicative of one's deepest nature." In a sense this walks hand in hand with loving God. If we truly are intimate with God, it doesn't just relate to personal prayer or reflection time. It relates to our everyday attitudes and motivations. Intimacy with God is only possible where there is love of God, and this type of love can only be sustained through intimacy.

Christian: Good point! My point, better stated perhaps, is...why seek after "sensational?" intimacy with God? It seems to me that seeking to "know God" as in becoming better acquainted/familiar with Him isn't a model of the Bible. Sure, understanding His ways, His character, His love for humankind, these things are certainly Biblical. But feeling His embrace, smelling His fragrance, being enraptured in His presence...these seem to only occur in rare instances, and usually at the sole will of God---not the result of seeking after them.

Isn't heaven when we'll experience God as such? Until then, aren't we called to labor--and then the reward? I'm not advocating a lack of relationship with God. I'm just wondering if we're trying to have something that we won't get until we finally are "married" to Jesus as His bride. Imagine being intimate with a child who is so much less intellectual, communicative, or capable of expressing him/herself on your level. You can't pour out your thoughts, desires, or feelings as you would like. You get so much more out of a spouse or a close friend who would be on your level of maturity. So should we expect to be intimate with God as such? Is that really possible?

Sure, we can, and will, grow in intimacy with God on earth. But this ..almost selfish desire... we have for sensing God's presence---is God behind this? I don't know...maybe I'm looking at this all wrong.