A Fountain of Cheese and Endless Chips Kinda Love
Scripture to Ponder:
John 15
Psalms 73:23-28
1 Chronicles 16
When we drive through the local donut shop, I'm not sure about you, but I don't normally ask for half of one glazed donut and a half-full cup of coffee. If you do, next time I will gladly ride along to have your extra half along with my whole - ya know, just to balance things out! We don't request our employer to only deposit half our paycheck, nor do we only want them to serve us a half-full order of cheese dip at our local favorite Mexican restaurant. No way, José, we want the whole thing. Preferably a fountain of cheese dip and endless chips. Maybe I shouldn't be writing while hungry, but hopefuly you're starting to understand the direction we're going here. When we love something, we want as much as we can get.
What about our relationships? What would happen if we gave an excuse each time we were supposed to spend time with a friend? We had intentions to spend time, but instead gave our time and attention to something else. I predict that the relationship would eventually fizzle out. We all have a deep desire to be liked, loved, and wanted. We were designed for relationships. We enjoy time with others and begin to miss our loved ones when we haven't been able to see them in some time. Now, I'm not saying you have to be a social butterfly. Goodness knows I'm not. I like to think of myself as more of a social dragonfly, per se. While I can socialize, I am certainly not proficient in this area and after a while I am ready to curl up on the couch with a good book - in solitude. Don't judge me, even Jesus needed some alone time and after all, I am just trying to be more like him.
We can reflect on some important truths here. Christ doesn't want just a small portion of ourselves and our time. In fact, he doesn't even want half. He is our Father and wants us to be all in. Our relationship is stronger when we're all in, fully committed, and wholly devoted. Relationships can't be sustained if they're only one sided. Truth is sisters, He's already done his part to have a relationship with us and the rest depends upon us.
A relationship with Christ, while we're gathering truths by comparing earthly relationships, can't even begin to compare to an earthly relationship. Numbers 23:19 reminds us that God is not man. He is honest and faithful in ALL of his ways. Even with the best of intentions, we will fail, dissappoint, and be dissappointed in our relationships with people, but not with Christ. His very character and being is love itself. He wants to be the ONE relationship that sustains us. He wants to be Lord of our life. He loves us and desires a close relationship. Pause and let that thought sink in. Christ wants a close relationship with YOU! WOW! How it must grieve his heart when we neglect the relationship he desires with us.
Sister, are you all in? Are you fully committed to Christ and to making your relationship with him a priority? No matter where we are in our walk, we can always gather truths and reminders to draw close and continually seek the Father. Growing in our relationship is a lifelong journey. Let's go all in. Let's make him Lord of our lives, where he rightfully belongs. Let's be daughters of the King, and sisters who are fully devoted and wholly committed to our Savior!
Questions to Consider:
1) What relationship consumes the majority of my time and attention?
2) Am I all in with Christ? Is he my whole life, or have I given him less than he deserves?
3) Am I daily investing in my relationship with Christ?
