Intimacy With God

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Romans 8:15, ESV)

I grew up as a pastor’s kid. Unlike some pastor kid experiences, I loved being a “PK.” I grew up across the street from the church where we enjoyed all the perks of an empty church building on a Saturday, a dream for an imaginative kid.

My dad was loved by many in his years as a minister, but not more so than by his three girls. My father passed away when I was in my twenties, but the memories of him remain vivid. One of my favorite memories is of Sunday morning services when I was a child. I didn’t sit with my mom or dad during the service since they were involved with worship, so as soon as the service ended, I made a beeline for my dad.

I can see in my mind’s eye the line greeting him at the sanctuary door, but when he saw me running down the aisle toward where he was standing, no matter who my father was speaking with, he would pause, kneel down and welcome my embrace. “Hey bake-bo,” he’d say, using the endearing nickname he gave me for who knows what reason.

That picture is what comes to mind when I think of our loving heavenly Father. Your Father receives you with arms outstretched ready and wanting to embrace you and show you His unrelenting love.

You may not have grown up with a good father, and so seeing God in this way may be very difficult. It may stretch you beyond understanding to know that God’s love is unrelenting and that your access to Him is completely unlimited. But this is what Scripture says about the true God.

In Romans 8:15 Paul is reminding every child of God that the “resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike, ‘What’s next, Papa?’” (The Message).

To call God by such an intimate name as Father or “Papa” would have been striking to the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day. The term is familial, so for Jesus to call a mighty and holy God, “Dad” would have been unheard of.

But as a child of God, this is the kind of intimacy you have with the Creator of the Universe. You might believe you are disqualified from this kind of relationship with God because of a shameful past or a current struggle. But because we are in Christ, we have the privilege of relating to God as Christ does in such an intimate and joy-filled way.

What does it mean for us to have this close relationship with God? It means that as a child of God, you don’t have to approach God anxiously, wondering if you’re accepted or good enough. You can approach him as a son or daughter who is already accepted and who can’t be loved more than you are loved right now. Adoption is not accidental. It is chosen. You are deliberately brought into the family of God!

Reflect: Ask yourself: Do I approach God primarily with fear, shame, or hesitation? If so, you may be living as a spiritual orphan rather than an adopted son or daughter of the King. Keep running to your Father. Don’t wait until you “feel spiritual,” but talk with him honestly, replacing timid orphan talk with the language of a child of God. And ask your Father with that childlike expectation: “What’s next, Papa?”