Think about the one you love. Do you remember the first time your eyes met? That long glance where you could not look away, because in that moment you were taking in every detail. The eyes, the hair, the shape of the face, the smile, the way they looked back at you… the sum of that moment was being forever etched into your memory, and they suddenly become the object of your obsession! Before that day, you had never met. After that day, you could think of no one else! You wanted to know everything about them inside and out, and times when you were apart seemed like an eternity. You were no longer thinking of just you. You were thinking of “us”.
Before my dad passed away, I had the privilege of helping my mom and dad celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. What I loved most was that they were still in love! They still held hands. He still cut flowers for her from the garden. She still laid with her head in his lap. And long after my dad died, my mom still thought of him every day. She was still thinking in terms of “us”, because the two had become one flesh!
That is how it is when you love someone. I mean truly love someone. The love moves beyond just mere desire into a realm of preference, loyalty, faithfulness, protection. You know their voice, you know their thoughts before they speak, you watch out for, care for, show tenderness towards, and communicate with constantly. Love became a matter of the heart, mind, emotion, and will.
If I were to ask you, on any given normal day, how much time you spend thinking about God, what would your answer be? I’m not talking about on a day you decide to go to church, or in a moment of fear or panic when you cry out. Just any ordinary day.
Of the people I have asked that question to in times past, I have been surprised by the answer because I’ve only ever heard one of two extremes. Either the answer is “I don’t”, meaning they don’t think of God in their daily lives or routine at all; or the answer is “constantly”, meaning they think of God in a similar manner as they take a breath into their lungs. He is always on their mind in one way or another, whether on the forefront or in the background. I’m not saying there is nothing in between, I’m just saying those are the only two answers I have ever heard.
I have a theory. Remember growing up ever hearing the phrase “Don’t talk to strangers”? My theory is that we don’t think about or speak with someone we don’t know, because there is no reason to. “But”, you may say, “I made a decision for Christ when I was young”; or “I’ve been on mission trips”, or “I go to church every Sunday”, or “my parents are Christian”, or “I prayed for healing”, or “I’ve seen miracles”. But the simple truth is that knowing of someone is not the same as knowing them.
Want to know the difference between Christianity and other religions? My God, the God whom I serve, Jesus Christ, is ALIVE! My spirit has caught the face of His Spirit, and our eyes have met! He is the object of my obsession! Our conversations are long and sweet. I know His voice. I’m learning His thoughts and preferences and ways. I have a relationship with Him, and we are becoming ONE. I am one of those whose answer is “Constantly”, because I no longer think of just me. I think of “us”!
YOU can have a relationship with God as well. Jesus is so much more than just “life insurance”, so when you die you go to heaven. Do you know Him? Do you love Him? In Him we move and live and have our being! He is love and light and all that is good. Without Him, we are not only powerless, we live in darkness, groping about like blind leading the blind. And death is the final separation, where we will never have another opportunity to know Him, to love Him, to experience all that He is and all that He has done for us. Can you imagine being separated for all eternity from the ones you love?
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: Hebrews 9:27
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” Matthew 7:21
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. #One early ms reads What My Father has given Me is greater than allMy Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30
Alabastersky 