Christianity Is A Relaxed Love Relationship With God
Have you ever had a friend who was so easy to talk to? You could simply be yourself and knew that you were never misunderstood and always treated with respect. These friendships mean a great deal to us because they represent a relaxed love relationship. This is exactly what Christianity is in essence.
In Matthew 12:1-8 we see a picture of what this means exactly. Jesus has been doing a lot of ministry work (preaching, teaching, and healing) and is now spending some quality time with his disciples on the sabbath (a jewish holy day). They are walking through the grain fields when His disciples become hungry. They decide to pluck heads of grain from the field and rub them between their hands to eat. Pretty simple. They’re hungry so they make some food. This however was a huge problem to the Jewish scribes at the time known as the Pharisees. The Pharisees were strict religious leaders who sought to uphold God’s laws and teach the people to do the same. They decided to add more rules to God’s law so that people would not even dare come close to breaking the law itself. So in the eyes of the Pharisees, the disciples were “breaking the rules” and committing sin by plucking heads of grain. Jesus has some words for them and helps us understand that christianity isn’t following a list of do’s and don'ts but having an intimate relationship with God Himself.
Jesus responds to them by showing them how they are failing to live up to the law they preach and how God ultimately wants them to practice love with one another and towards God. This is our law as Christians. Jesus defines this clearly in Matthew 22…
“And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.’” -Matthew 22:37-40
The disciples were in a loving relationship with Jesus and they were interpreted rightly by Him. They were misinterpreted by the Pharisees and therefore accused of sin they had not committed. God sees our motives. Our motive for doing something means so much more to God than what we do. For example Jesus says in Matthew 5 that it’s not just murder but anger that is sin, and that it’s not only adultery but lust that is sin. Jesus cares more about your character than your compliance to what you think the rules are. When loving God and others is our motive in every situation, we are truly free from sin and can know that God sees our intentions and interprets us rightly (Galatians 5:13-14). Being a child of God means that we are now in a loving relationship with God and therefore can relax and trust Him. You relax around people you love and trust. Jesus wants you to experience this love and trust by being in friendship with Him.
Conviction:
Christianity is a relaxed love relationship with God.
Application:
Because we have a relaxed love relationship with God…
Spend time in prayer talking to God about what’s on your heart and ask Him for guidance and wisdom.
See if there are any areas in your life you are not trusting Him in and surrender those fears to Him.
Spend quality time with Jesus in His word so that you build a stronger and more intimate relationship with Him.