Some years ago, it was common for Christians reaching out to
others with the good news of salvation to ask, “Do you have a personal
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ?” Then some people who do not have that
kind of a relationship would shift uncomfortably in their seats, and become
defensive. So in a bid to lighten up the air, the question was rephrased to “Do you go to church?” or “Where
do you go to church?” Now, to be clear on this matter, going to church and
having a relationship with the Lord are not the same thing. No, not at all! Empty religion is man’s effort or man’s rules to reach God. Some people engage in church activities without an active relationship with God in a bid to
quench the emptiness in our souls. God is calling us into something deeper. He is calling us into a vibrant relationship with Him!
In
the book of 1st Samuel 3:1, we are told that Samuel had been
ministering to the Lord in the temple. Yet verse 8 tells us that “Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the
word of the Lord yet been revealed to him.” If you are engaged in service in
the house of God, I salute you. There is no higher calling, no greater honor a
man can have, than to be enrolled in the service of the Almighty God. However,
we must know the God that we serve. His presence must abide with us beyond the
church walls, His power pervading our day to day lives. We must receive
God’s love expressed through His Son,
and respond with all we have within us. God came seeking Samuel in the dead of the night. He may be knocking at the
door of your heart right at this moment.
Religion without a personal relationship with the Lord is
like trying to live without breathing! It is like licking the skin of a mango
fruit without ever reaching its juicy pulp! To know the Lord is different from knowing about Him. The
Apostle Paul sighed in prayer; “Oh! That I may know Him, and the power of His
resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto
His death” (Philippians 3:10). Have you ever felt a jolt of His resurrection
power flow through you? Do you desire fellowship with the Lord, even in
suffering? Are you willing to give up anything at all for the sake of
conforming to Christ? Hard questions? Maybe. However, these questions are
necessary as we stop to consider where we are in our walk with God.
Perhaps you are wondering, “How do I even initiate a
relationship with a God I cannot see?” Or you say “My life is filled with sin,
God would not want anything to do with me!” Well, quit worrying about that, God
is the one initiating this relationship! He extended the golden scepter to you
when He said, “Come now, let us reason together, though your sins are like
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they
shall become like wool” (Isaiah 1:18). All you have to do is come to God in
repentance, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and the finished work of the
cross, and the burden of sin will no longer be yours to bear. Then you can get
started with God on a dynamic and personal relationship that will affect every
facet of your life, and make all things brand new.
Above all, entering into a personal relationship with God
through His Son Jesus, gives you the assurance of spending eternity with God.
You then shift your focus from the fleeting things of life to the more enduring
things. According to the Apostle Paul, "we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which
are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which
are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). When you have this
understanding, life takes on a new meaning and you become purposeful in the
relationships that you have. Our human affiliations can only reach their
highest potential when we are building a lasting relationship with God in the hope of
spending eternity with Him.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my
voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with
me (Revelation 3:20).
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