Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

Psalm 25:4-5 (ESV)

 

When was the last time you felt an awakened sense of awe and wonder for God?

It is one thing to enjoy familiarity with God and learn that we are accepted exactly as we are, without having to earn it. It's another thing entirely to experience intimacy with God and realize we are loved more than we can possibly imagine.

If we are confident that we are being loved by God, we will not only gain a better appreciation of His amazing grace, but we will also respond better in obeying Him. Obedience fosters familiarity, and familiarity makes us feel at ease and secure in God's presence. Familiarity, on the other hand, can become unhealthy if it is not grounded by fresh revelations and understandings of who the Father is to us and how we might know and enjoy Him on a personal and intimate level.

You can be familiar without being intimate.

Familiarity is about being so accustomed to certain notions and expectations of God that your relationship with Him becomes a routine without excitement and staleness. When we lose momentum in building our intimacy with God, it will impact our view of God and how we relate to Him. When we lose the awe and wonder of God, we might become far too casual with Him, even despising Him when He corrects us.

It's like being the older son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son from the Bible (Luke 15:25-32). He was familiar with his father's generosity, but he was filled with anger and contempt when his father chose to be extremely kind to his younger brother. The older son's attitude towards his father revealed a lack of intimacy between them. That is something that can happen to us as well. How will we respond if God wants us to take us in a different direction? Most times we become upset, disappointed, and even angry. That shows we prefer familiarity over intimacy. Our reaction reveals our desire for God to stay familiar and consistent and safe. However, God is not keeping you safe but rather taking you deeper in faith.

Jesus was intimate with the Father, and as a result, He imitated the Father and did what He saw His Father do. Because of his familiarity with God, he was able to love and serve without reservation. Similarly, don't let routine replace your relationship with God but passionately strive to pursue God by knowing His ways and acting in accordance with them. Be like the Psalmist, who calls out to God in order to know and walk in a perfect and healthy relationship with Him.