In today’s world of Smart Phones, tablets and instant Internet access, there are many things that we can “know.”
If someone asks the questions, “How long is the Verrazano Bridge,” a nimble person with a 4 G connection and an iPhone can ask Siri and they will get an almost instantaneous response.
But, if we were sitting next to an 85 year old retired construction worker who spent 2 years of his life building the Verrazano bridge in his 20s, we would not only get the right information, we would get it with great passion.
Intimacy with Christ involves much more than repeating facts concerning Christ or the Bible.
Knowing Christ involves an intimate relationship with Him, one that changes our lives.
We are starved for intimacy, knowledge of Jesus Christ in the very recesses of our being.
We are starved for the rest He gives by knowing, through His Word, who He is and who we are in Him.
Christ wants us to know Him intimately, not just what we can do for Him.
Psalm 131 speaks to this need and desire:
“Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp. Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the Lord—now and always.”
At the heart of intimacy with Christ is our humble trust and hope in Him.
We see in vs.1 that pride will hinder our intimacy with Christ.
Pride is a belief in our own self-sufficiency by overestimating our own abilities as well as our own importance.
The humble person, however, has a realistic understanding of his or her capabilities and limitations.
True intimacy with Christ begins with a heart that is not proud and with a life that is not preoccupied with our own greatness and success in life.
We see the key to intimacy with Christ in vs. 2.
It is the ability to rest in Him, rather than struggling for what we want by going after earthly enjoyment and success.
It is finding our satisfaction in Him.
This is seen in the simile of the “weaned child with its mother,” a picture of complete rest and trust.
The mother is the actual source of the child’s contentment.
A “weaned child” pictured here because the relationship is not based on fulfilling a need, as with an infant.
The peace and satisfaction flow from the mother’s presence and intimacy—a child snuggling close for the sake of closeness and the relationship itself.
We must trust Christ and put our hope in Him from now through eternity (v. 3). This dependent trust is a need we never outgrow.
No doubt the psalmist had questions to express to God. But in this Psalm, he simply rested in Him while enjoying His presence.
We need that as well.
Do we go to Christ with the spirit of: What have you done for me lately?
Instead, may we come to Him with the peaceful, faith-filled spirit of “a weaned child with their mother.”
Enjoy the richness and rest of your relationship with the Lord.
We can trust Christ because He is who He is.
Let us trust Him because we are who we are in Him.
Blessings!
Pastor Ken Keeler, Director of Church Ministries