An intimate touch

I read somewhere once something which made a lot of sense to me about touch.  Its a fundamental human need.  Those poor sad babies in Romanian orphanages who lie in cots all day devoid of human contact don't tend to do very well.  Isolation is not supposed to be part of the human condition and we are designed to be tactile sensitive beings.  But there are grades or levels of touch depending on the intimacy we have with an individual.

So if we barely know someone we might shake their hand or possibly put a hand on their elbow or back if we need to guide them somewhere  ( remember the shock when Michelle Obama put her hand in the small of the Queen's back to usher her along at some dinner or other!!)   A handshake is non-threatening and acceptable between strangers.  It marks a friendly overture and gives us some sense of the person we are greeting - vice -like grip or limp as lettuce??

If we know someone better we might give them a hug.  Full body contact. But only for a few seconds or it starts to get uncomfortable.   Then for those members of our family we have more intimate touches.   You know you love someone when you touch their head.  A ruffle of the hair.  A gentle stroke to comfort.  A romantic hand on cheek.  The head is a MUCH more intimate place to be touched and we need permission to go there and there will only be a few people we would allow to touch us in this manner, or be allowed to touch.

Then there is the kiss.   The most intimate form of touching.  Touching someone with our lips.  We reserve our kisses for the very special people in our lives.  There is nothing better than kissing and being kissed.  It is vulnerable yet safe.  Its almost impossible to be closer to someone then when you are lip-locked together.   Almost....

Because there is one more place to go..... and it's the act of intercourse.  Where two people are naked and unashamed, totally surrendered to each other in every way and where bodies interlock and ' become one'.   You only do this with one person.  It is sacred and intimate and is not to be shared.

The Bible says that our relationships here on earth are a foreshadowing and an illustration of the way God relates to us.   ' Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church'.    God does not want a formal, handshake, slap on the back relationship with you.   He doesnt even want a hug and a kiss sort of relationship with you.  He wants to go all the way.   He wants a covenant love relationship more intimate than any human relationship you have ever known.    Read Song of Songs if you want to get a flavour of how passionate He is.

Many of the Hebrew words in the Bible which we translate as ' worship' actually mean things like ' to bow down before'  and  ' to turn towards and kiss the face'.  When we praise God He is not interested in having a sing along, He doesnt want to hear us telling Him how great He is.   What He is after is the adoration of our hearts - He wants to be kissed in worship, and to kiss us back.  Because He is our lover and that's what lovers do.

How is your relationship with Jesus today?   Perhaps you dont know Him at all and would like to meet him and shake His hand.   Maybe its a while since you felt His hug and you gave Him a kiss. Perhaps you have been sleeping in separate beds for a while.  Or maybe you are more deeply in love with Him than ever before.   This Christmas let's  not forget what it's all about.   It's a love story.
And you are the object of that love.

Lord Jesus, as I approach Christmas time, admist all the hustle and bustle more than anything I want to feel your touch.  I pray today for all those people who have no one to hug and kiss them.  Those who are deeply lonely and isolated.   Please would you hug them and hold them tight this Christmas time and let them know that they are loved.   Amen