INTIMATE ACCESS                                                                                   December 10, 2015

This week, God has me reading the book of Esther.  You’ll remember that in the story, Esther is chosen from hundreds of beautiful young women to replace the previous queen.  After Esther becomes queen, Mordecai the Jew hears of a plot to kill King Xerxes.  He tells Esther, who then tells the King, the plot is foiled, and the King has his enemies impaled on a pole.

Later, Haman, enemy of Mordecai and the Jewish people, conceives a plot to kill all Jews throughout Xerxes’ kingdom.  Mordecai finds out about it and again tells Esther.  Esther invites the King to a banquet (two in fact), tells him about the plot to kill her and her people, the plot is foiled, and the King has Haman impaled on a pole. 

Quick question:  why couldn’t Mordecai approach the King himself?  He’s at the palace gate.  He’s around the King and his Kingdom.  But he’s not close to the King.  Esther is INTIMATE with the King.  She is his bride.  She is close to him.  She has access to his heart.  She has favor with him. 

Isn’t it interesting that it’s a woman who is intimate with the King? 

When Jesus was born as a little tiny baby, He came through a woman.  He was inside her womb.  She nursed him at her breast.  She raised him from a helpless infant to be a mighty man of God (literally!). That’s as intimate as it gets! 

Do you suppose that this is a pattern that Jesus wants us to repeat?  To be that intimate with Him?  It’s not limited to women… John is described as the disciple that Jesus loved.  The one who leaned against His breast at the supper table.  John was so close to Jesus, he is the one Jesus chose to take care of Mary.

I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ wants to be that intimate with us now.  To be close to Him.  To have access to His heart.  To have favor with Him.  To love Him and be loved by Him with no restrictions, no boundaries.  We are His bride, you know.

This Christmas, remember that Jesus left the glory of Heaven to come to earth to have relationship, to have intimacy with you.  When He died on the cross, the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was torn in two from the top.  God Himself tore that curtain so that there would be no separation between us and Him.  At least not from His side. 

You can choose right now to have a special, intimate, close relationship with Jesus.  It’s totally worth it, and pretty soon our enemy’s plot will be foiled and he will find himself impaled on a pole!

Dear Jesus, thank you for humbling yourself to leave the glory of Heaven to be born as a tiny baby in Bethlehem.  Thank you that you did all that to have an intimate relationship with me.  Today I choose to be close to you.  To spend time with you, loving you and letting you love me.  Thank you, Jesus, for loving me.  Amen.