Psalm 96:2 - Sing to the Lord; praise His name. Each day proclaim the good news that He saves.
A lot of us struggle with the every day part of our intimate love relationship with God. Throughout the Bible, God uses marriage to describe the relationship between Him and His people, and for good reason.
When you are married to someone, don't you make time to be with them? To learn more about them on a deeper level than just a friendship? That's what God desires of His relationship with us. He wants us to go deeper with Him. He already knows everything about us. The Gospels of Luke and Matthew tell us that the hairs on our head are all numbered (Luke 12:7, Matthew 10:30). But a marriage requires reciprocation. And not the kind of reciprocation where we do out of obligation, but the kind that does because it wants to do.
In his fantastic book, Pursued, Jud Wilhite, makes the comparison between going to Church and marriage by saying, "You can be a Christian and never go to church, just like you can be married and never go home to be with your spouse. But in both cases, as someone said, your relationship with your significant other will suffer" (Ch. 11). You can have a relationship with someone (in this case God or your spouse) and not take the time to develop it and learn more about your significant other, but the relationship WILL suffer. As someone who's been divorced twice, I can certainly agree with this assessment.
The book of Hosea is a fantastic story about God's amazing love for us, and how much God really pursues that love relationship with us (the book Pursued is based off this book of the Bible). Throughout much of the early Old Testament, God is treated as if He is our Master. While He is (He did create us after all), that wasn't the sort of relationship He wanted to have with us. He has ALWAYS desired a close, intimate relationship with His cherished creation. In Hosea, God tells us, "When that day comes, says the Lord, you will call me 'my husband' instead of 'my master'" (Hosea 2:16).
In His attempts to get the hearts of His people in the right place, not only did He use Hosea and Gomer to demonstrate His love for us (a beautiful illustration), but He told His people, "I don't want you to think of Me as just some hard taskmaster. I want you to think of Me as your husband." Wouldn't you agree that a relationship with a husband (or wife) is more deeply intimate and personal than say a relationship with your boss at work (I would hope so, unless of course you work for your spouse, which is a whole other set of issues)?
But what's all this every day stuff? In Joshua 1:8, God tells us to meditate on His book of instruction day and night. Did God wake you up today? Did God carry you through the day? Did God bring you home safely? If you answered no to any of those questions, there are some other issues to deal with that this message probably won't cover. I remember a Pastor once used a great football analogy when talking about studying God's Word. He said before you play the game (in our case our daily life), don't you read the playbook beforehand so you know what to do? Makes sense to me. When the Quarterback (Jesus) is calling plays, don't you want to know what He means?
I won't lie and tell you that I jump out of bed and grab my Bible and start reading. For starters, I never jump, especially out of bed at Oh Dark Thirty. And I usually require one (sometimes 2 or 3) cups of coffee to wake up. But what about nighttime too? I don't know about you, but I tend to have a lot on my mind towards the end of the day. As much as I (and I'm sure most of us) like to decompress and clear our mind after a long day, there are usually a lot of thoughts running through our mind (that's how the sleep-aid business stays prosperous). I often find myself reflecting on how I did throughout the day. I will pray and ask if I did things the way God wanted me to. God speaks to everyone in different ways. For me, I hear Him speak to me through His Word more than any other way, which is a big reason why I spend so much time in it. When I'm praying and asking those questions, I find the answers in there.
So take the time to get to know God. Spend time with Him every day, so you know what He has planned for you (Jeremiah 29:11-13). God wants nothing more than to spend time with us because He loves us like a husband loves his wife. He has pursued us since He created us. It's up to us to make the relationship and the pursuit mutual. Every day.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for waking me up and for loving me unconditionally. Thank You for taking the time to know everything about me, and for pursuing me when I don't deserve it. I pray that as I go out into the world today, I will be a reflection of Your love to others and that they will see You through me. I pray that I stay connected to You at all times, Lord, and that I continue to pursue You every day and every night. I pray for those that haven't taken the time to work on their side of the intimate love relationship with You. My prayer is that they will realize that it takes two to make a relationship, and they will begin spending some time with You in prayer and in Your Word. Even if it's just for a few minutes today, we all have to start somewhere. I thank You for everything I am and everything You have blessed me with. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen!
God Bless!!!
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