Getting Connected

God is a jealous God, so your relationship with Him is your number one priority. And when you truly strive to have a relationship with Him, there will be a change in you. You will become a better person. Intimacy with God means intimacy with people, and there is so much joy in that! Ask anyone who walks that path.

I think sometimes Christians work on their relationship with God but don’t work on their relationships with people. That’s a shame, because working on the vertical without working on the horizontal doesn’t get us very far. It’s only half of our calling.

Here’s a familiar example. You’re driving to work, and this is what goes on in your mind:

“I’ve got to make sure I read my Bible today, and I’ve got to make sure I take communion, and I’ve got to memorize my memory verse. Hey! That person just cut me off! Eff you!”

That’s a little comical, I know, but we’ve all been there or somewhere like it. When it happens, we know that we can confess it to God and let it go. We know that we’re forgiven.

But sometimes it’s so much worse. Sometimes Christians see people right in front of them and think, “I don’t care about that person.”

If this is you, then you’re messing up. When you’re connected to God, you don’t struggle in your relationships. So if you’re not connecting to people, you’re not connected to God. You’re struggling in your relationship with Him. I know. Sometimes I struggle in my relationships, and I know what it feels like.

The key is to find the source of the disconnect.

If you’re having trouble caring about people (or you are cussing at them) then somewhere along the line your ability to connect to God has been disrupted. To connect, you have to open your heart. Reading or memorizing verses isn’t enough. If you’re not doing it with your heart, then you’re not doing it. The Bible says, “Write the commands on your heart so they will not leave you.” (Proverbs 3)

Write these commandments on your heart. Love the Lord God your Father with all your heart, soul, and mind. That’s the first commandment. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said the second is like the first (Mark 12:31). Loving your neighbor is loving God. That’s why an increase in intimacy with God leads to increased intimacy with people. There is no separation between them.

All people were made by God. All people bear His image. And we were all set on this world by Him. We are called to love everyone! Yet God looks at the world and says, “I have created everyone in my image, but some people are so much less fortunate than others.”

If you forget about them, you’re forgetting about God.

Matthew 25 is the way into understanding this simple point:

Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ (Matthew 25:37-40)

Jesus is saying, “In every human being, you need to find me. I am there, in everyone. When you feed a hungry person, you feed me. When you give water to a thirsty person, you give water to me. When you help shelter and clothe people who are homeless or in great need, you take care of me in my time of need. When you visit the sick, or visit people in prison, and love on them in any way you can, you love on me.”

Do you want to be a better human being? Pursue a relationship with God! As you grow more intimate with God, you’ll become more intimate with people. Are you going to mess up? Yes. You’re going to mess up. But in connecting to God, you will learn to love your neighbor as yourself. That is what He is asking you to do.

See you Wednesday.