One of the best known Bible passages is the story of Jesus calling Peter, James and John over to lead them high up on an unknown mountain (Mt. 17:1-8). Just the three of them. When they got to the top, the Bible says, “Jesus was transfigured before them.” The original Superhero unveiled, “His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.”

It’s been said that black is the absence of color and pure white is the combination of all colors. Jesus’ clothes had become majestic robes of royal Divinity—transformed into a white that was not of this world—a holy brilliance before their very eyes.

Then Jesus called Moses and Elijah back from the dead and started having a conversation with them. It’s hard to glance over that story.

There’s more. From the heavens…God spoke.  “A bright cloud covered them, and a Voice from the cloud said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”

And then Jesus told them that this was just for the three of them right now. “Don’t tell anyone,” He whispered in the ears of The Three. (Can you even imagine locking that one down from your friends?)

Three men: Peter, James, and John. Three men: chosen by Jesus to witness this historic, utterly mystifying, miraculous event—God speaking, robes glowing, dead men walking, the face of Jesus shining as bright as the sun–that great celestial ball of nuclear fusion, burning so bright it stings the eyes of its spectators from 94 million miles away.

So the question begs to be asked. How did Jesus decide who these three would be?

Out of the billions of people in this world, how did He choose just three: three intimates, to witness this momentous event when Heaven actually came down to earth?

How does He choose? Does God have favorites? The Bible says He does not have favorites. (Galatians 2:6) How does He decide who His intimates will be?

The Message Bible reads, “Noah’s act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the righteousness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.” (Hebrews 11:7 Msg)

We become His intimates when we choose to spend our time with Him—in His Word and in His presence. The more time we spend getting to know Him, the more our faith increases.

We decide the level of intimacy we want; how close we want to be to the King of Glory by how much of our day we decide to devote to Him.

Christian study is not about the making of scholars. It’s a personal quest to discover our Creator and to engage in a relationship with Him. It is about becoming intimates with a Friend.

Each of us decides by degrees and percentages. What percent of our days will we spend in the presence of the King and how deep will we go in reading His journal, talking to Him and listening to what He has to say. There are no shortcuts to intimacy. There are no shortcuts to knowing God.

To know God is to spend time with Him and to read what He has written to us.  Each of us gets to decide for ourselves how close we want to be to the Creator of the universe.

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