The other day, I asked my daughter what she would say if Jesus walked into her room and sat down beside of her. Her response was inspiring. "I would tell Him thank you and then talk to Him just like a friend." No hesitation, no processing her thoughts in order to say the politically correct thing... just a truth from the heart of a kid who loves her Jesus and has yet to be tainted by adult issues of life.
So, what does it mean to really have a relationship with Jesus Christ? I don't know about you but for me, it is being His disciple. It is being what He wants me to be and not mixing that up with what others have told me or with expectations that have been set on me. My relationship with Him is lived out through the desire inside of me to follow Him and to follow His teachings. With all of that being said, let me be the first to say that I do not have this method of following down pat yet. I still struggle so often with my own reasoning and my own desires. Even worse than that are the times when things are running so smoothly in my life and I feel like I finally have some bit of control over circumstances and the day-to-day stuff. It is then that my "relationship" wanes because in my mind I ration that there is finally some peace. So the need to talk to Him every day and to read His Word is not as great. Oh I'm the first to run downstairs at the break of day and grab my Bible and drink until my thirst is quenched during the times that I can't feel him or I'm struggling with just living abundantly. But then my precious daughter says, "I would talk to Him like a friend," and I am slapped in the face with the reality that I don't always treat Him as someone that has a relationship with Him.
I am a very loyal person and have made friends that will be lifelong relationships. Those people are very special to me. I have, however, have been on the giving and receiving end of one-sided friendships. In truth, are they friendships at all if there are only occasional times when the relationship is maintained and valuable? It hurts to feel ditched after the need has passed. Maybe I overanalyze but a true relationship with someone is a need deep inside of you. A need to spend time with them and share life with them, to hurt and rejoice with them, to make special memories with them... So, to need God goes something like this journal entry that I found as I was going through my old notes... "To need God is simply to need God. He either always is or not. I am sleeping better and not worrying and dealing with the ups and downs lately. Yet I still need God. Needing God is not just a 'times of trial' thing. Needing God is an existence thing. When I recognize that I cannot put Him in my life to just fix things then I am living relationship. I need Him in order to breathe and move and have my being. I need Him in order to walk out my life. The struggle is to cling when MY situations pull at me; yet, the true evidence of relationship comes when I cling to him after my sea has calmed."
So, what does it mean to really have a relationship with Jesus Christ? I don't know about you but for me, it is being His disciple. It is being what He wants me to be and not mixing that up with what others have told me or with expectations that have been set on me. My relationship with Him is lived out through the desire inside of me to follow Him and to follow His teachings. With all of that being said, let me be the first to say that I do not have this method of following down pat yet. I still struggle so often with my own reasoning and my own desires. Even worse than that are the times when things are running so smoothly in my life and I feel like I finally have some bit of control over circumstances and the day-to-day stuff. It is then that my "relationship" wanes because in my mind I ration that there is finally some peace. So the need to talk to Him every day and to read His Word is not as great. Oh I'm the first to run downstairs at the break of day and grab my Bible and drink until my thirst is quenched during the times that I can't feel him or I'm struggling with just living abundantly. But then my precious daughter says, "I would talk to Him like a friend," and I am slapped in the face with the reality that I don't always treat Him as someone that has a relationship with Him.
I am a very loyal person and have made friends that will be lifelong relationships. Those people are very special to me. I have, however, have been on the giving and receiving end of one-sided friendships. In truth, are they friendships at all if there are only occasional times when the relationship is maintained and valuable? It hurts to feel ditched after the need has passed. Maybe I overanalyze but a true relationship with someone is a need deep inside of you. A need to spend time with them and share life with them, to hurt and rejoice with them, to make special memories with them... So, to need God goes something like this journal entry that I found as I was going through my old notes... "To need God is simply to need God. He either always is or not. I am sleeping better and not worrying and dealing with the ups and downs lately. Yet I still need God. Needing God is not just a 'times of trial' thing. Needing God is an existence thing. When I recognize that I cannot put Him in my life to just fix things then I am living relationship. I need Him in order to breathe and move and have my being. I need Him in order to walk out my life. The struggle is to cling when MY situations pull at me; yet, the true evidence of relationship comes when I cling to him after my sea has calmed."
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