It seems that every day someone else I know is starting a new relationship, getting engaged or getting married. I am daily getting invitations to bridal teas, weddings, bachelorette parties, or couples showers; which is wonderful! I can’t begin to explain how proud I am of my friends for taking the next step in their relationships and I can’t believe how much we have all grown over the last few years! I also feel honored to be a part of all of this wedded bliss and newness in their lives, but it has really gotten me thinking about the importance we place on our earthly relationships in comparison to the importance that we place on our spiritual relationships. Now don’t get me wrong, relationships are a vital part of life and I am not saying anything bad about marriage, I am just questioning the importance we place on them today.
When we start to like someone or are interested in someone (or are even getting to know a new friend!) it seems as though we put a great deal of work into the process of getting to know that person. We talk to their friends about them, we talk to our friends about them, we read their blogs, we text them, we talk to them on the phone and we even stalk their Facebook’s (admit it, you’ve done it 😉 !) We try to learn everything we can about that person to feel like we know them a little bit better. We learn their favorite colors, favorite days of the week, favorite foods, favorite stores, what music they like, what their hobbies are, what their family is like, what their favorite sports teams are, all in an effort to further the possibility of a relationship with that person (dating or otherwise) & if the other person is just as in to you, they are likely doing the same thing! Sometimes we will even begin to act like that person, “You like boats?” “I LIKE BOATS!” Now with that being said, how come there aren’t so many more of us placing that much emphasis on dating, befriending or marrying God? Are we doing all we can to truly find out who He is? Why aren’t we trying to impress Him or be more like Him? We have his life story right in front of us from beginning to end. He tells us how He wants us to act, who He calls us to be, what His character is like; We know His family, His friends, His enemies; We have everything we need to learn about him right in front of us, but yet we place more importance on our earthly relationships than we do with the ONE that truly matters!
For many of us, it seems as though we have somehow managed to make marriage out to be our life’s goal. We graduate high school, go to college, meet someone, then get married, that’s it! But PEOPLE, we were meant for so much more. Marriage, relationships, and friendship are all an awesome blessing from God, BUT they are just supposed to be an added bonus for our time while we are here on earth. He gave them to us as a gift, not for our sole purpose for living! Our reason for being here is to spread the gospel, tell people the good news, worship Him and tell people about our one true GOD! How can we have earthly relationships without having a SERIOUS relationship with God first! He is the one who has blessed us with the ability to marry and conceive so shouldn’t we take all of the time we can to befriend, date, and marry the creator of all of these glorious things first?
So like I said, I am not degrading the significance of marriage or relationships, I am just using them as an example. This goes for ANYTHING that you put before your relationship with GOD. Everyone has done it at some point or another and it has just been weighing on my heart lately that so many people around me have been placing more emphasis on the created, rather than the creator, myself included! Imagine how deep our relationship with the Lord could be and how he could use us, if we put forth the same amount of energy into our relationships with Him that we do into the things and people around us; I couldn’t even begin to imagine the joy and satisfaction that would bring!
“Large crowds were walking along with Jesus, when he turned and said: You cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot come with me unless you love me more than you love your own life. You cannot be my disciple unless you carry your own cross and come with me.” Luke 14:25-27(cev)
