There are a lot of phrases that Christians tend to throw around that sound great but often leave you scratching your head as to what it really means. If you’ve attended a church or read a few books on Christianity, you no doubt have heard that we should be in relationship with God. It sounds like a no-brainer. Of course we should, and who wouldn’t want that anyway?
The very thought of being in relationship with God gives you a warm feeling inside; you know that it is something that you want. But what does being in relationship with God really look like?
If you are married or in a serious relationship, you hopefully understand that you have certain responsibilities in that relationship. You have to talk to the other person. You enjoy spending time with them. There is an understanding that you will listen to the other person at least as much as they listen to you. When you love someone, you have a somewhat inexplicable desire to please them and do things for them that make them happy. You want to show them you love them and feel their love for you in return. That’s all basic stuff, right? Hopefully those elements are true in your most important relationships as well.
But what about our relationship with God; do we have the same feelings towards Him as we do towards our significant other? Are we content to just sit quietly in His presence without saying a word? For many of us, that just seems weird and uncomfortable. How boring. Really? It’s boring to just be still in the presence of the Creator of the entire Universe?
Do we spend as much time listening to God as we do talking to Him? If you ever bother to track how much time you spend just listening to God vs. how much time you are bombarding Him with request after request, it will be a sobering experience. What if you treated your spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend like that? What if 95% of the time you spent with them was consumed by you asking them to do things for you? That’s not a relationship with which any of us would or should continue! Thankfully God loves us so much that He endures this on our behalf.
How often do we spend time conversing with God. It’s true that most of us never hear an audible response from God, but if you take the time to listen, you will sense the nudging’s and direction of His Spirit within you. To be in relationship with God means that we will want to learn from Him and about Him. He has the advantage of already knowing everything about us, so we have some catching up to do.
To be in relationship with God is not so different than being in relationship with someone you love. You want to know them as intimately as possible. You never want to hurt them or let them down. You go out of your way to learn about them, to listen to them, and to do the things that will make them happy. Most of all, being in relationship with God means loving Him with every ounce of your being. We already know how to be in relationship with God. We are simply too lazy or too intimidated to put what we know into action. Don’t be afraid, and don’t put it off any longer. You can be in relationship with God, but it will take some effort on your behalf. Jesus died on a cross to make this relationship possible; what is the relationship worth to you?