Familiarity

I just finished reading The Shack by William P. Young, and I thought it was a wonderful book. I read books like this and wish I had such a grasp of the nature of God. I'm not saying it is 100% accurate, but is anything we mere mortals do 100% accurate? I finished reading it and thought; wow can we really be that familiar with God? Can we really be that close in relationship with him? Does he really want to hang out with me? And then I read a scripture like this from Luke, and it seems to reinforce that God is that familiar with us. Jesus is speaking of God the FATHER not just Jesus or the Holy Spirit but the complete fullness of the trinity knows me and knows every sparrow so why wouldn't he want us to be familiar with him too?

6Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. -Luke 12:6-7

And then I think; can the relationship really be as free and open and easy as is depicted in the book? Isn't it, now that I know Jesus and my eyes have been opened, now I see how bad the world is? Now I have the huge responsibility to keep in step, and doesn't God expect me to walk the straight and narrow? Yes I am fully aware that we all make mistakes and when we do stumble off the path Jesus is forgiving, but still don't we have to second guess everything so we don't, heaven forbid, do something worldly! There is an excellent exchange in the book between Mac, the book's protagonist, and the Holy spirit about how we have taken relationship's response and expectancy and turned them into the responsibility and expectations of rules. You may not agree, but I found it to be an eye opening perspective.

I read a little farther in Luke 12.

8"I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. 9But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. -Luke 12:8-9

Pretty simple and straightforward. Everything in this wold is getting increasingly more complex, but God has always been the same. I want that simple relationship with him, not the responsibility and expectations we put on ourselves in the name of freedom.