“Pull me closer please, yes closer than that!” It was to be an intimate dance. The male partner was reluctant to get too close, but upon his female partner’s insistence, he did pull her closer and closer. It was not close enough apparently and she said again: ‘pull me closer still!’ I think it was Marx (mind you Groucho the comedian not Karl the philosopher) who said; ‘If I held you any closer, I would be behind you.”
Intimate contact puts me in a vulnerable position. Hugging, shaking hands, sitting next to people are all situations and actions that leave me exposed to a variety of possible infections and even relationships that I don’t want to explore. So I make it a ‘habit’ to be very careful how close I allow anyone to get.
I recognize that my personal life is somewhat reflective of my spiritual condition. The odds of course of me getting some infection by touching someone are at best remote. Most of the diseases that are passed require a lot more than a handshake or sharing a soda or a seat. However, I keep my distance in most instances because I don’t want to be known for who I really am. I am hiding myself from others. I would rather they only know me from a distance and I prefer not to know much about them.
My relationship with God is much the same. I really don’t want to get too close to Him. I might catch something from Him. He might infect me with a desire to change my lifestyle, my choices, and my priorities. He might want me to give more of myself to those who need a kind word, a decent meal, a smile or even a touch.
So I keep myself as far away from God and His word as I possibly can. If I read His word the Bible, it will cause me to look at myself not as the infected, but as the infector. That is, I will start to see myself as not so pure and clean. I will begin to recognize that it is I whom others should be avoiding.
I am the one with the ‘holier than thou’ attitude. I am the one with the ‘don’t tell me what to do’ face. I am the one with the ‘I told you so’ stance. It is these attitudes that are highly contagious and I am sure I have passed these infections on to many people.
I need a more intimate walk with God in order to make better choices in life. It is this intimacy of drawing closer to Him that will enable me to get closer to others in my personal life. It is this intimacy with God that will help me to help others.
Yes, I will allow Him to pull me closer. He will be behind me after a while. In fact He will be all around me and all over me. That is true intimacy.
Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you