Who’s your best friend? Perhaps it’s your spouse or a lifelong friend, or maybe it’s someone you met fairly recently. Why do you feel especially close to this person? Many would answer that question by saying it’s because you’ve developed a close personal relationship with them.
The word relationship has at its root the word relation. Webster defines “relation” as a connection by blood or marriage. God wants to have a personal relationship with us and to do this He sent His son Jesus who shed His blood for our sin.
We have a relationship with God through marriage as well. Paul explained this in his letter to the Ephesians when he described Jesus as a bridegroom and we, His church, as the bride. This perfect relationship exists for us only if we accept the only perfect One as Savior and Lord.
After we have accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord, good communication is essential in order to know Him personally. That means we need to pray often. Think about the musical, “Fiddler on the Roof.” Tevye talked to God constantly in that production because God was his close, personal friend.
Good communication also means we need to listen as well as talk. God expects us to take time to listen when we go to Him in prayer. We may discover what He wants us to do either by the Holy Spirit directly speaking to us or by events that transpire as a result of our prayers.
How often have you prayed for something, God answered your prayer, and then you said, “That was lucky”? Give God the credit at all times, even when His answer is no or not at this time. Personal relationships are built on trust.
Finally, we come to know someone personally when we find out more and more about them. God gave us His written word for just this purpose. As we read the Bible, we find that we indeed are blessed because His word is sufficient for all we need in our lives.