It is my hope to produce a practical resource to help new Christians to grow in intimacy with Jesus. I am going to serialise it because there are many things to say on this subject and I don’t have the time to write them all at once! So in this introductory section it would be worth stating that the Christian life centres around a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And unfortunately there are no formulae in relationships. All I can do is to show you principles – the things that please His heart and tools that will help us to grow in our walk with Him. But it is all ultimately about knowing Christ and being known by Him. This takes time, and it is a journey. It is a voyage – something of which we have little experience in our age of inter-continental airlines and microwave meals. I will give one last metaphor which I hope will not seem too contrived. Our heart is a garden and we are inviting Jesus to cultivate it. When we first come to the Lord it is a mess. It is full of weeds and thorns and is chaotic and disordered. As we get to know Jesus we welcome Him to uproot that which does not belong and fashion the garden into a place of true beauty. This is a process and requires us to surrender even those plants of which we have grown fond. He is a gentleman and He values our hearts too much to do anything without our permission.
Let us enjoy exploring the Christian life together. I promise that this will be an intensely practical guide so I will avoid the cheesy metaphors from now on. I’ll end by saying that there is no greater pleasure than deep intimacy with our Lord and Saviour.
