Every child of God is called into service in His kingdom; however this begins with a relationship with God. You can’t serve God in a right way without first having a relationship with Him; intimacy with God is more important than serving Him.
What is Intimacy?
Simply put, intimacy is knowing someone and being known on a very deep level. It is listening to the voice of a loved one, spending time together with them and seeking to satisfy their need for love, companionship and giving joy to their heart. However, there’s a difference between human intimacy and divine intimacy. Divine intimacy is when you seek the Lord’s heart, you seek to be with Him and hear His words – not from a church pulpit – but straight from His mouth just like Mary did.
Now while they were on their way, Jesus entered a village [called Bethany], and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and was continually listening to His teaching. – Luke 10:38-39 AMP.
Intimacy is the place where you open your heart and soul totally to the Lord, allowing His light to fill every area of your life, and seeking to live in His presence always. His words will transform your life and provide you with supernatural knowledge and wisdom – even to solve difficult situations and help people out of their problems. Mary’s decision to sit at the Lord’s feet was probably the best decision she ever made, one from which God wants us to learn and apply its lessons in our lives.
The enemy of intimacy
But Martha was very busy and distracted with all of her serving responsibilities; and she approached Him and said, “Lord, is it of no concern to You that my sister has left me to do the serving alone? Tell her to help me and do her part.” But the Lord replied to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered and anxious about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part [that which is to her advantage], which will not be taken away from her.” – Luke 10:40-42 AMP
Seeking intimacy with the Lord requires you to first recognize and deal with its number one enemy – distraction. Most of the time, the things that distract us from intimacy are seemingly legitimate things such as work, household chores, entertainment or other forms of busyness. Martha was a good woman who wanted to serve her Lord probably with a delicious 3-Course meal, but Jesus said she was anxious and bothered about many things but she was missing the most important of them all – which is intimacy with Him.
One of the things you need to learn is to know when to stay and just abide in the God’s presence and fellowship with Him, and when to serve Him. You must deny the enemy the opportunity to rob you of the many blessings the Lord has for those who sit at His feet and seek Him (See Hebrews 11:6).
Intimacy is the key to the Lord’s heart
‘So they gave a supper for Him there. Martha was serving, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure nard, and she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.’ – John 12:2-3 AMP
There is nothing as precious as spending time with the Lord and lavishing your affection and attention on Him. Of course it’s not as easy as it sounds but all you really need to do is to set time apart to be alone with Him. There are a lot of both spiritual blessings and physical blessings for those who habitually seek His presence, some of them are written in the book of Psalm 91.
Grow your intimacy with God
Such disciplines as learning to deny one’s self, obedience to God, and total dependence on the Lord must be cultivated as you seek to build intimacy with the Lord. You will know the will of God and His ways, you will find it easy to walk with God as you draw grace from Him every time you get into His presence.
Mary’s pound of very expensive perfume of pure nard was a sacrifice made from a heart of intimacy. She didn’t hold back from the Lord but gave her best to the One she claimed to love, as is expected from you as God’s dear child. When you have intimacy with the Lord, only then will you be able to touch people’s lives and be a blessing to many others – just as Mary’s perfume filled the whole house with fragrance.