Jesus Is My Canadian Girl Friend
Ever had a long distance relationship? I think back to college when Regina and I only saw each other on the weekends. She had the “Atlanta line” from Rome, GA so we talked every night for hours. What causes most of these long distance relationships to fail and yet others to survive? Committment and communication.
Now take a human long distance relationship and transfer the idea to our Heavenly Father. As Christians we are supposed to be growing in our relationship with Him. Even though He is all around me and actively controlling the world, it seems more like a long distance relationship to me these days. There is still the commitment to the Lover Of My Soul but it is so easy to forget Him. Like any relationship, how do you get to this point? And more importantly, how do get away from it? Have I gotten lost in the day-to-day routine of life - occupying myself elsewhere while waiting for the Bridegroom?
We say we really love God but our lives are on auto-pilot. We’re busy taking care the good and right “stuff” of life - all the while our hearts are numb to why we do these things or if we should even be doing something else. We aren’t committing any great act of sin, but we are blindly “living in the flesh” - convinced we are serving God. We tell ourselves that “this is normal, the excitement of a new believer is temporary” - and it’s true. But we fail to acknowledge that we should also be growing in a deeper kind of love. One that has its ups and down, but is continually growing and being realized in different, new ways. We don’t even realize that we are being choked out by thorns because we have forgotten the Bridegroom. We aren’t committed.
“The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the Good News, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares of this life and the lure of wealth, so no crop is produced.” - Matthew 13:22
November 24th, 2004 at 3:31 pm
try practicing His presence. try to create the habit of continually recognizing His presence with you. He’s really not far away - He’s right there with you now.
November 28th, 2004 at 8:58 am
Tim comment + Ideology = sounds nice. Tim comment + real world = doesn’t work. Hug the wind, love wind, the wind is your friend! Yay, everyone hug now!
Dave, you really hit on something here. It is true, God does seem like He is so far away sometimes - more like at times He is an after though. It’s just as you said, the ‘tangible’ in our life right now is raising families, going to work, saving for the future, paying bills, birthdays, holidays, etc. Essentially getting “…lost in the day-to-day routine of life.” So true. This with the family and individual worship.
I’ve been struggling with this for some time now. Frustrating cause there are moments that I want Him closer and just something to show He is still there. There difference with a human long distance relationship is that you are able to at the very least, hear that person and every now-and-again set up meetings. Suffice it to say, that kind of relationship isn’t there - for me anyway - with God. It’s one way talking. He never really calls me up either; it’s always me callin’ Him.