When we have problems in our life, it's really easy to turn to God and beg him for help. But what about when something awesome happens in our life? Do we thank God? Or do we think these things just happen by chance and keep ignoring Him until we need Him again?
I know that I don't spend as much time with God outside of church as I should. People mention this issue a lot but it didn't really hit me until recently. At the beginning of the year, I made a commitment to myself and God to spend time with Him everyday. Not because I have to, but because I want to. Even though I want to, sometimes I still find it hard to give Him at least 30 minutes of my day. It seems like there are so many other things that need to be done that have a higher priority in my life than spending time with Him.
Last night, while reading Matthew 22, the pharisees asked Jesus which is the most important commandment. Jesus replied "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." - Matthew 22: 37.
The definition of commandment is "a divine command" or "an order from authority". Even though I've known that I'm supposed to love God, when I read it, it really hit me. We are commanded to love God with our everything. Jesus didn't say "Yeah, I'm about to die a really painful death for you, to save your life, but if you don't feel like loving me today or even acknowledging my presence, that's okay."
He's not supposed to be loved like we love our family or our friends. We all know that sometimes we don't like our family and our friends seem to come and go. He's supposed to be number one in our lives because He will always be there and yet every day we take His unconditional love for granted.
We are here to worship and serve Him, but every day we think about how we can serve ourselves instead. We love to talk about how much He loves us but when when it comes to loving Him back, I think we all fall short. Everyone has read "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Phillipians 4:13 at least once. But the important part in there is that we can do all things through Christ. It's not "I can do all things if I believe in Christ and He'll strengthen me."
There's a difference in believing in him and having a relationship with him. In order to do things through Christ, we have to have a relationship with him. To me, a relationship with him isn't just putting scripture as my status on Facebook, or going to church every Wednesday and Sunday, or trying to never do wrong. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," Romans 3:23. We're going to mess up but he forgives us and that doesn't change the way he feels about us. A relationship to me is spending time with Him, alone, really talking to Him and reading His word because, like Corina once told me, His word is His love letter to us.
If you had kids and you promised to supply your children with EVERYTHING they need for their entire life (Clothes, money, love, food, etc.) and you made a huge sacrifice for them but they refused to spend time with you, talk to you, or even read the letters that you wrote them you probably wouldn't be too happy. That doesn't really sound like the ideal relationship, does it? With the way we are, we would just stop giving them these things and let them suffer because they don't appreciate us. But God, he really loves us SO much that even when we act like spoiled brats who think they don't need Him, He still supplies us with our every need. The least we can do is love him back...
I'm not writing this because I think everyone is like this and they need to change. I'm writing it because I'M like this, and I'm ready to change that.
"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9
"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take away your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." Psalm 51:10-12
