The importance of spending time alone to achieve closeness with someone makes sense to most of us.  Let me illustrate using this story.  Do you believe this story?

My wife and I have been married over 50 years.  The way that we got together was that I first noticed her in an English class (I thought she was smart.), then about a week later, I saw her at a football game (I loved her spirit.).  A few days later we saw each other at a mutual friend’s birthday party (I found she was adept in social situations.) and then I noticed her at church (She and her family seemed to be spiritual.).  Without any personal conversations or spending any time alone with her, I decided to marry her. 

Now would you believe that?  Would you say, “Oh, sure!  That’s the way people usually get together and get married?”  Probably not!  More than likely you would say, “That’s not the way relationships are built!”

Now, what if I told you a different story that goes something like this:  My wife and I met at a church youth rally and I found her to be an interesting person.  We started sitting together at church and soon we were double dating with another couple.  That lead to us going to movies and other social events together and spending a lot of time talking on the phone.  Next thing you know, we were spending a lot of time alone, going on drives or walks together and sometimes just simply sitting around discussing things that were important to us.  

Which story makes sense to you?  Why? My guess is that you chose the second one because you know and have experienced that relationships are built on TIME TOGETHER ALONE, getting to know each other intimately. 

Relationships take time; they don’t happen overnight.  You may meet a person you like but if you never spend time with them, that relationship is going nowhere.  That’s because relationships take TIME TOGETHER ALONE. 

YOU NEED TIME BY YOURSELF WITH THE OTHER PERSON IF YOU ARE GOING TO GET TO KNOW THEM: WHAT THEY THINK, WHAT THEY LIKE, WHAT’S IMPORTANT TO THEM! 

This same principle holds true when it comes to getting to know God.  It only happens when you spend TIME TOGETHER ALONE WITH GOD.  The first principle in growing spiritually is if you want to grow spiritually getting to know God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit you will need to do that by making TIME TOGETHER ALONE!

Things to Consider:

• Think about your best friend.  How did you get to know them?  How much time have you spent together?  For how long?
• Can you talk more openly (share personal information, feelings, hopes and desires) with that person now compared to when you first met them?  Why?
• How much time do you spend alone with God now?  Is that enough?  What would be a good goal for you?