Now imagine you see this groom one month after his wedding day and ask him, "How is your wife? Are you enjoying marriage?" And he replies to you, "I'm not happy. During the first two weeks, everything was wonderful, but I'm not sure I'm in love anymore." After inquiring more about his problem, you come to find out that he rarely speaks to his wife, he never spends time with her, and he hasn't really paid attention to the details of her life since they have been wed.
After he says all of these things he ends with this line: "I just don't feel like I'm in love with her anymore. There's no connection."
The sensible person thinks the groom to be crazy. If you spend no time with your wife and never speak to her and pay absolutely no attention to the details of her life, the direct result will be a loss of romantic connection, you think. Duh, right?
Or not.
When I examine the language I have used with God in the past, it has certainly at times been this absurd.
We make huge commitments to Him based on the blessings he has shown us and we invite him into our lives (an absurdity when you think about it; it makes so much of us) saying, "I love you, Lord and I want life with you!"
And then he tells you what life with him looks like. Life with God is not one of performance, where we act out certain rituals to please him, life with this God is about a relationship.
So a man walks up to Jesus and says, "What's the greatest commandment?" And Jesus responds saying, "The Lord is One God, and you shall love him with all of your heart and soul and mind and strength. This is the greatest commandment."
Jesus sets us straight: our command is not to do something, but it's to know someone.
But in order to know someone, you must do things. There is no knowing without doing. You must learn about them, you must speak to them, and you must commit time to them or else you will not know them.
We absolutely know this to be true with our friends, but why do we think God is any different? I would say that we think it's different because we really don't know Him. We don't understand just how personal it gets with this God.
"The worst we have done to God is to leave Him alone - why can't He return the compliment?"Getting to know another person takes some work and understanding God is similar. The difference is that getting to know God will take more than you may think - He promises that - but guess what? The benefits of knowing this One are much greater than the benefits of your closest companion.
-C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, pg. 51
1 comment:
Chris, Great post! It is so true that having a relationship with Jesus takes time and effort. The effort is not required to begin the relationship in the first place - for that we just have to ask. But if we really want to know Him we must spend time in His Word and in prayer, and with His people. I love your analogy of the groom. Peace, Linda
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