What can you do today to begin getting to know your spouse? How can you become more caringly involved with one another?

Thou . . . art intimately acquainted with all my ways. Psalm 139:3, NASB

The Scriptures give us three key dimensions of intimate relationships. These three dimensions are important for our relationships with God and with other people.

First, Jeremiah 1:5 tells us that before God formed us in our mother's womb, He knew us. The Hebrew word for this kind of "knowing" is yada, which is defined as a deep, personal awareness and understanding. This passage tells us that God cre­ated each one of us and knows us individually. The word yada tells us that God has made an invest­ment to know us and a choice to understand us.

The second Hebrew word associated with intimacy is sod, which means to reveal or to dis­close. Proverbs 3:32 tells us that God is intimate with the upright, that He reveals Himself to those who are in right standing with Him.

The third Hebrew word for intimacy is sakan, which means a ben­eficial or caring involvement. The psalmist reflects on God's heart when he writes, "Thou . . . art intimately acquainted with all my ways" (Psalm 139:3, NASB). He's saying that God knows him so that He can care about him in tangible ways. This word speaks to the motive behind the involve­ment. Does God want to get to know me because He wants to judge me or condemn me? No! God wants to be intimately acquainted with me so that He can be caringly involved in my life.

In summary, the three Hebrew words tell us that to establish an inti­mate relationship with someone you must (1) get to know that person, (2) let that person get to know you, and (3) become caringly involved with one another. What a terrific goal for marriage!

What can you do today to begin getting to know your spouse, let him or her get to know you, and become caringly involved with one another?

Father, deepen my longing for intimacy with You and prompt my heart as I develop more intimacy with my spouse.