I am familiar
with all your ways.

Psalm 139:3
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
(NIV Bible)

The Hebrew word for familiar, biyn, means to be acquainted with or to intimately understand. Father God is familiar with all our ways, which means He is fully acquainted with us and He intimately understands all that we are and all that we do.

This thought of intimacy causes many of us to be very uncomfortable with God, for we are not even comfortable with ourselves. Our minds can't even comprehend this kind of depth of His intimacy and acceptance. He is familiar with all our ways, and yet He still desires to be our Father. This kind of love surpasses anything that we have ever experienced or anything that we could ever possibly hope for or imagine. However, it is a two way street.

Just as much as Father knows us, He wants us to begin to know Him, to become familiar (biyn) with all His ways. Father desires intimacy with His children. He sees us for who we really are, yet He loves us. He wants us to see Him for who He really is, and to allow Him to father us perfectly. Jesus and the Father shared in this type of intimacy. In John 17:10, Jesus prayed these words to His Father, All I have is yours and all you have is mine. Theirs was an interaction of hearts that was completely given to each other without reserve.

When we receive Jesus Christ, we enter into the same relationship that Jesus has with His Father because we are now in Christ. Jesus died so that all we might share in this incredible relationship with His Father. Will we begin to yield all that we are over to the One who wants to give us all that He has? I think we are getting the better end of the bargain! To become intimate, requires vulnerability. God understands our trepidation so that is why He risked first. He made the first move when He gave up everything He had to win our hearts. He emptied the bank when He sacrificed His only Son so that we might know Him.

Why not respond to this ultimate gesture of love by beginning to risk a deeper relationship with your Father? Intimacy with God begins with us lowering our defenses simply to allow God to into-me-see.

PRAYER
Father I thank You for being familiar with all my ways. I believe that You intimately understand everything about me, yet You still love me unconditionally. Today I want to begin to lower my own defenses and lay down my pre-conceived ideas of who you are. I want to know You Father. I want to begin to see into Your heart and to become familiar with all Your ways. In the name of your beloved Son, Jesus, I pray. Amen.