FAMILIARITY

FAMILIARITY

Familiarity is the state of being extremely friendly, intimate, perhaps undue intimacy, inappropriate informality, impertinence, having an instance of familiar behaviour. Close or habitual acquaintance with someone or something, understanding or recognition acquired from experience.

Familiarity simply put is when you have a form of advantage in rapport with a particular person such that others do not have and many times crave for. Birth into a particular family makes you familiar with your parents and siblings and whatever seems to be a form of advantage in being in such a family, you easily be a partaker of. One of the benefits of familiarity is that it affords you easy access to the one whom you are familiar with. It is said that Familiarity breeds contempt and complacency. Hence one needs to know that Familiarity isn't equality.

Familiarity levels differ based on the instance of association. The familiarity level that I would share with my father would be different from that which his Secretary in the office would share with him or that which a neighbour would share with him. I have become familiar with him by the link of birth, his Secretary by the association of the workplace and the neighbours are familiar with him based on the rapport of seeing each other across the yard on a day to day basis.

As heavily guarded as the seat of the president of my country is, and many people wouldn't be able to access his room during his tenure, that isn't the same story for people like his wife, the first lady of the country, simply because she shares a higher level of familiarity with Mr. President than many other people do. His vice president is also familiar with him but his access isn't as highly elevated as that of the first lady.

Familiarity could either have a good or a bad effect on you, all depends in how you go about it. If as the son of the King of a town, the rightful heir to the throne, you decide to use your familiarity to the king to cheat and lord lawlessly over people of the town, instead of making sure that you use your familiarity to the highest placed individual to ensure the welfare of the occupants of the kingdom, that could have adverse effects on you.

Scriptures record of Peter (Luke. 4:38-39, Matt. 8:14-15) enjoying the benefits of being familiar with the Lord JESUS, as his mother in law got a house visit from JESUS even in the time when she was seriously sick. I'm to guess that HE must have been sometimes frequent to her place being the close relative to his disciple. So at the time she fell ill, she did enjoy immediate healing of her body and she got back up and ministered unto them.

Lazarus was a close friend of JESUS such that when He died and JESUS went over to his place, JESUS wept. But seeing that he enjoyed such close rapport with JESUS, he wasn't going to be left to be stinking in the grave but JESUS after giving thanks to GOD called him forth from the grave from death back unto life. (John. 11)

The people of Gadara suffered a huge torment in their city, a torment marked by the demon possession of a man on their shores, one who came into contact with JESUS and at this meeting got delivered of the legion which had possessed him. JESUS would have done many much more for that land but they refused Him stay and pleaded that he leaves their town, simply because they had seen what He was able to do and lost out on many other things they should have been able to gain from (Mark. 5:1-20, Luke. 8:26-39). This is a huge misuse of familiarity.

Do not be like the people in Jesus's town who because of their knowledge of where JESUS came from and their knowledge of who His earthly parents were and their occupation and social stand in the community loose out of greater miracles he would have wrought in their midst (Matt. 13:54-58, Mark. 6:1-6)

The children of the city saw Elisha coming back after he was disengaged from Elijah and instead of them to cling unto him in a bid to perhaps get some divine connect seeing that he had just received power, decided to instead make jest of him and they received their reward, as two she bears appeared from no where and smote them all, forty two their number (2Kings. 2:23-25).

Have you become too familiar with the people of GOD amongst you, such that whenever you receive the word of GOD from their lips, you ignore it all because of the rapport you share with them? Perhaps it's your main guy that suddenly receives the call of GOD to ministry and you don't seem to believe when he says "Thus says the Lord", simply because you have together gone into acts that would make him seem impossible for GOD to use. Or your husband is the minister and because of the way He carries out his role as a husband, you become too carried away whenever the word of GOD is declared upon his lips and you doubt it's efficacy?

Once again I say, do not let your close rapport with the people of GOD be the reason why you loose out on the word of GOD towards you. Why not instead, take advantage of that rapport and draw closer to GOD.

GOD BLESS YOU.