Intimacy with God is a vital pursuit for every believer, a deep and personal relationship that transforms us into His image. We are called to know Him, not just through surface understanding, but by digging deeply into His Word as one would search for silver and gold. This requires time, effort, and a determined purpose to become more intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving, recognizing, and understanding His nature. Our relationship with God is akin to a courtship, preparing us for a future union with Christ. Just as in a marriage, we must desire to spend time with Him, to know Him in every way, and to conform to His likeness. This intimacy is not about theological technicalities or mere church involvement; it is about connecting with the Personality of Jesus Christ, our Savior, Friend, High Priest, and Lord. The world, driven by distractions, often pulls us away from this so-great salvation. Yet, we must reorder our lives, breaking free from the tyranny of urgency that surrounds us, to prioritize seeking the Kingdom of God above all else. Like David, whose soul thirsted for God with vivid intensity, we must find time to seek Him, not just His Word, but His very Presence. The consuming passion of Paul's life was to know Christ, to be transformed into His likeness through shared sorrow, pain, and overcoming. This drive to be like Him, to chase after Him as a bride pursues her beloved, shows us the active effort required in our relationship with God. We cannot be passive; we must make decisions to simplify our lives, cutting through the complexity of the world to focus on what truly matters—knowing Him who is invisible by faith. Eternal life is to know God, for those who truly know Him will be like Him, in His image, and thus in His Kingdom. This relationship, this family bond with Christ, surpasses all worldly achievements or distractions. We must challenge ourselves to find time, to dig for the true treasures in God's Word, understanding that the payoff of intimacy with Him is beyond measure.

The purpose of simplifying our lives and clearing out time to be alone with God is to truly know Him. Knowing God is so vital that without it, one does not have eternal life. Eternal life and knowing God are inextricably linked, synonymous in their essence. Jesus implies that eternal life is more than just living forever; it carries a quality that makes endless life wonderfully enjoyable and delightful. To know God is not merely to live endlessly, but to experience a life of profound connection with Him. God is not standoffish but is intimately acquainted with the lives of His people. We are the focus of His attention, the apple of His eye. If we are righteous, He takes delight in us and blesses us. God foreknows us, taking delight not in who we are now, but in who we will become when He has completed His work in us. He cherishes us, adding an element of deep feeling to His delight, fostering a closeness that mere observation cannot achieve. To know God involves a closeness and intimacy that goes beyond mere familiarity. Jesus contrasted His intimate relationship with the Father to the distant connection of those who only knew about God. If we truly knew the Father as Jesus does, we would speak and behave as He does. Knowing God requires experiencing Him, not just learning about Him from a detached perspective. It is a personal, emotional, and practical involvement with Him, engaging the whole person, not just the mind. Knowing God is always accompanied by an emotional reaction, a delight, and an eager pursuit through meditation. It requires facts, practical experience, a positive emotional response, and the involvement of the whole person. This knowledge is not coldly detached or merely academic; it is realistic, practical, and emotionally rejoicing in an intimate association with God. The more we know Him, the stronger our reaction to that relationship becomes. If we do not react as God expects, it reveals we do not truly know Him. God can tell we do not know Him when our actions do not reflect the way a child of God should respond. Without this intimate knowledge, we cannot walk together with Him in fellowship. We know God in proportion to our submission to His righteousness. True knowledge of God manifests in faithful obedience, showing that we live as He would. To know God in the biblical sense is to live like Him. Those who live like God will be given endless life at the resurrection because they can walk together with Him in mutual understanding. Knowing God is moral in its expression, revealed through actions comparable to His. It involves not just keeping commandments, but aligning with His broader instructions across countless aspects of life, striving to do as He would. Knowing God is always experiential. We learn better through doing than merely thinking. Action, combined with emotion, consolidates meaning and writes God's values in our hearts. Eternal life is a relationship with God, built on shared experiences, where both God and man know each other and walk together in agreement and trust.

In the pursuit of spiritual growth and overcoming, intimacy with God is essential. God's purpose is to reproduce Himself, to create His image in us, which requires personal faithfulness and a deep, personal relationship with Him. This relationship cannot be achieved through group efforts alone; each of us must individually seek to know Him deeply. The depth of God's mind is evident in His awesome creation, which stirs a desire to understand Him and be like Him. When we contemplate His works, it brings us back to our purpose and highlights how deep He is. His mind is vast and expansive, and even after thousands of years, humanity has only begun to scratch the surface of His wonders. He has given us the tools and the invitation to plumb into His depth, focusing primarily on moral, ethical, and spiritual areas that shape our conduct in relationship to Him first, and to others secondarily. Salvation lies in the personality of Jesus Christ, not merely in words written in a book. We must be converted to Him, the One we are to marry, by living by faith and walking as He walked. God's judgments are deep, and understanding them requires more than skimming the surface; it demands time and effort to search into His ways. Despite the busyness of this world, which can overwhelm us with distractions, we must prioritize seeking Him to avoid neglecting our great salvation. God is willing to reveal deep things to us, as He desires His children to know Him. However, this revelation does not come solely from intellectual effort but from combining study with obedience. He rewards those who diligently seek Him and apply what they learn in their lives. By giving His Spirit to those who obey, He guides us into truth, strengthening our faith through a growing knowledge of Him. Seeking God is like digging for precious metals; it requires hard work and discipline. Yet, the reward is a solid foundation for a relationship with Him, uncovering the truth about the truth. This intimate connection empowers us to resist the pressures of the world and remain focused on the cause of preparing for the Kingdom of God.