Invest in the Relationship

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. James 4:8

I’ve got a lot of flaws, but I’ve never been a workaholic. I like my job, but once I work my hours, I go home to my family. I spend my time with my wife and when my college kids are home, I spend time with them. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in life, but I’ve always realized these are the most important people in my life and so – whether they want it or not – they get most of my time.

Imagine though if I gave only one hour a week to my family. What if even that one hour was subject to whether there was an important football game that day? Then, what if I really needed them for something important? What if I had a major surgery and asked them to suddenly drop everything so they could help me for a week of recovery? What would their response be? If I invested nothing in the relationship but expected the benefits of an intimate relationship in return, I’d be a fool. That’s not how relationships work.

That, of course, is exactly how many of us have treated God. If Christianity is true, if God created us for a relationship with him, then the most important relationship of our lives is with him. How we interact with the father is the most important thing about us. God isn’t human, but he is a person and as such, he knows us and can be known by us. We may never know everything about God, but we can spend our entire lives getting to know him better. The only way that happens though, is if we invest in the relationship.

Many of us though, have gone for years without really getting to know God any better. Maybe we go to church on Sunday, but then we live the rest of the week without a thought of him. When some illness strikes though, we pray like mad for his help and wonder why he seems distant. God hasn’t moved of course. We have.

Today’s passage provides one of the most profound promises in scripture. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. God made us and wants us to seek a relationship with him. He’s always there. Daily then, it’s our responsibility to invest in the relationship, reading, praying, meditating, and listening. God is a person who loves us more than anyone in the universe. Our relationship with him is the most important thing about us. If we desire to experience the lives for which we were created, we must daily invest in our relationship with him. If we seek God, we will find him.