July 25 I Thursday

Psalms 37-39

Acts 26

“I call on You, my God, for You will answer me; turn Your ear to me and hear my prayer.”   —Psalm 17:6

How would we describe our relationship with God? As a silly illustration, imagine a couple getting married and as the wedding meal draws to an end, the bridegroom turns towards his bride and says, “I really enjoyed that meal; would you please thank your parents for putting it on for us? I would thank them myself, except I have arranged with a friend of mine to play golf this afternoon so I’ll be back later. See you sometime tonight.”

He comes home late that night, makes himself a cup of coffee, and as he is halfway through his coffee, he suddenly says, “Oh, I just got married today. Where is she? Oh, there she is! Hi! I forgot about you. I’m not used to having you here, you know. Look, I’m just beat. I’m exhausted. It’s been a long day. I’m off to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” The next morning, he gets up, makes himself another cup of coffee, and halfway through this cup of coffee he blurts, “Oh, I just remembered: I’ve got a wife! Look, I’m busy all day. In fact, I won’t be back until tomorrow, because I’m doing some business where I’ve got to be away but I’ll see you sometime.”

Imagine asking that same couple three months later, “how are you enjoying being married?” Would we be surprised if they responded, “this marriage is dull and not working?” Yet, this is how some Christians treat God. We get up in the morning and say a quick: “Good morning God! Please look after me today. Please bless and give me everything I need. Amen!” Then, before we go to bed at night, we say a quick, “Thank you for looking after me today. Please give me a good sleep tonight by taking away my nightmares. Amen!”

These interactions take about 30 seconds of our day. If someone were to ask us how we are enjoying Jesus, we may ask in return “what does that mean?” More than our experiences and feelings, the Christian life is a relationship we have with Jesus Christ.

Relationships do not grow unless there is time spent deliberately pursuing and deepening that relationship. One of the things the Bible tells us about God is that He has ears and lips, which means He can hear and speak. Our knowledge and experience of God grows in the measure to which our communication is good. A privilege we have as Christians is prayer, where we can spend time talking to God and listening to what He has to say to us. May we make that time to communicate with Him so that our relationship with Him grows.

Prayer: Lord God, thank You that You have ears to hear me and lips to speak to me. Help grow and bring me into a deeper relationship with You.