Recent discussions coupled with observations on Facebook and in the devotional I’m currently reviewing, have led to this morning’s feelings on relationship with Christ. As I type this, I am just finishing up my morning devotional quiet time, and am still feeling my Lord’s arms around me. This subject is dear to His heart as well and He’s had me write on this at various times over the years. This moment just happens to be the latest expression.
As an author, I am part of several group boards on Pinterest where I can share what I write. Other authors also share what they write, and one author, at some point during each day, will post “The 1 Minute Devotional”. Another author from time to time will share “The 5 Minute Devotional”. Devotional books I have on my shelf are typically only one to two pages in length per day, with one maybe two Scripture references and lots of white space, maybe a pretty picture thrown in for good measure.
I look at these devotionals and have been getting more and more bothered by them. Their content doesn’t bother me necessarily, although most of them seem more geared to making the reader feel good for a few minutes rather than encourage quality time with their Lord and Saviour. What bothers me is the attempt by various authors to fit their message into the shortest snippet of time available because their readers are busy and busy lifestyles demand quick “pick-me-ups” as opposed to offering the invitation to slow down for a bit and spend time in God’s arms, hearing His heart beat and learning from Him.
The reason this has begun to bother me so much, is that busyness is one of the ways the enemy has discovered that Christians will succomb to. Modern so-called civilized society has a person going a mile a minute with just snippets of time available for those that matter to them, God and family included. We see memes aimed at parents and families, saying that it’s not the quantity of gifts that matter so much as the quality and quantity of time that a family can share together that counts. There used to be a saying, “The family that prays together stays together”. This is true of God’s family too.
God longs for relationship with His people! Relationships of any kind are difficult to engage and go deep on just a few minutes every day. Relationships are built by spending quality time together. This time together might be in silence, just enjoying each other’s presence. It might be spent together in conversation. It might be spent together with one learning something new from the other. In parent/child relationships, that time might even be spent with the parent correcting the child’s behaviour and the child having to accept and deal with that correction in a manner that either hurts or furthers their relationship with the parent.
Popping into one’s quiet time just long enough to say ‘hi – goodbye” to God isn’t really spending much quality time with Him at all. There isn’t time to have a meaningful conversation of any kind beyond short quips that the person will forget hardly an hour later as they go about their busy schedules.
No. . . God wants quality time. God wants to truly spend time with us! He longs for two-way communication as we pray with our Bibles open, so that He can engage us as we engage Him.
Today’s devotional from T.C. Spellen was discussing obedience and the results that can happen in one’s life if they continually choose disobedience. She mentioned that it’s our duty to obey God’s commands. Yes, sadly, I grew up with obedience being referred to as one’s duty as well. So many people have been under the impression of duty for so many years that it’s become one of the primary reasons for backsliding and walking away from the faith. Duty can only be kept up for so long before it eventually turns to drudgery if relationship with the one to whom they have that sense of duty is only kept at a superficial, arms-length distance. Yes, as the children of God we are expected to be obedient just as the bond slave forever obeys his master, but notice that term “bond” here. Paul makes this usage in reference to himself in his letters. In Bible times, if a servant loved their master so much that when the year of Jubilee came, they did not want to leave their master, they would put their ear to the door and their master would drive an awl through it to forever mark them as his bond slave. Usually, this was a situation where the master treated the slave well, and the slave was like part of the household. The key to this term “bond” is in the relationship the slave had with the master. Christ told His disciples that He no longer called them servants, but friends, because He told them all that was in His heart. To add yet another level of depth to this point, Paul tells the Ephesians that wives are to submit to their husbands. Many have abused this verse to grant men the right to abuse their wives and to prevent women from having any leadership roles anywhere at all. But in a healthy marriage situation, husband and wife love each other deeply. This love causes the husband to protect and fight for his wife to the point of putting his own life on the line to spare hers. This love causes the wife to willingly submit to her husband’s leadership in the home and deepens her nurturing nature toward him. There’s that word “love” again.
There is a saying among starry-eyed lovers that “your wish is my command”. But in God’s way of doing things, nothing would please Him more than if His command was our desire. If we are truly, deeply in love with Christ, His commands are sweet and far easier to obey than if we have an arms-length relationship with Him. The master/servant relationship is not discounted in Scripture as a valid way to look at obedience to God’s commands, but God would prefer to treat us as sons and daughters, and as the Bride of Christ, pleased that we would choose to love Him so much that we willingly obey out of that love and desire to put a smile on His face. Now some will read this and accuse me of teaching some form of salvation by works, or of trying to earn God’s pleasure. Well, Scripture does tell me that I can grieve the Holy Spirit. So if it’s possible to earn His sadness and grief, if it’s possible to stir up His anger and if it’s possible to cause Him to feel the need to correct me, then it is equally possible to put a smile on His face and to sense His pleasure at having taken the time to please Him. Even Christ was moved by Mary’s sacrifice of Spikenard poured all over His feet. It is possible to make glad the heart of God as the Psalmist puts it. So while I can’t earn my salvation, I can affect God’s emotions and feelings toward me. It is true that God’s love for me is infinite, but it is also true that my capacity to accept and discover that love is directly related to the time and dedication I am willing to give to my relationship with Him.
So we come full circle in this discussion. God’s desire that we come away, come apart, and spend time together in His presence, is a command. God expects that anyone coming to and accepting Christ’s gift of Salvation will want to spend time with Him. To discover whole generations of modern society coming for the gift and then only peeking in on God one or more times in a day must be quite saddening and cause God much grief. God has shown me that He appreciates my efforts to draw near to Him. He’s shown me that He appreciates my efforts to spend time with Him, and He shows up to meet me. That hug I talked about at the beginning? Yeah, it’s still there as I begin to wrap up this entry. God is pleased when we choose to spend time with Him. He’s pleased when I choose to obey His directives. He’s pleased when I choose to thank Him and show an attitude of gratitude for all He’s busy doing on my behalf every day. It’s time to buck the North American/Western societal rat race and make time for the most important relationship you’ll ever have, your relationship with Jesus Christ Himself. The Bridegroom is calling. Will you answer?
