relationship with God

1 Chronicles 18-21 – Regular Maintenance Required

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Everything in life must be kept up and maintained. We don’t think about maintenance when things are new and running well. But, a lack of maintenance will lead to a gradual and eventual breakdown. And this is true of our relationship with God.

Our relationship with God requires regular maintenance. God warned His people about this prior to their entering the Promised Land. (Deut. 4:1-14) (Deut. 6:10-13.)

But neglecting to maintain a relationship with God is just what happens in 1 Chronicles chapters 18-21. In chapter 18, David seems unstoppable. He’s winning one military victory after another, fighting shoulder to shoulder with his men while honoring God and giving Him credit for the victories.

But in chapter 20, there is a subtle shift in David and his approach.

  • Instead of going to battle with his men, David stays home.
  • After David’s commander leads the army to victory, David comes out and proudly puts the defeated king’s crown on his own head…taking credit for the victory.
  • David also takes a large amount of plunder, but this time there is nothing said about dedicating it to God.

David’s subtle downward slide culminates in him calling for a census of able body soldiers. This seems like a small thing, but God had not asked David to take a census. David’s victories were dependent on God, not David’s troop count. The census was merely David pridefully basking in his successes.

Though God eventually corrected David, David’s lack of maintenance in his relationship with God eventually caused him and those around him great pain.

With God, as with life, neglecting maintenance can go unseen for a while, but the eventual need for correction will come. And correction can be jarring and very costly. So, when it comes to your relationship with God, pay attention to the daily maintenance and you won’t have to scramble and panic trying to repair a broken relationship.

1 Samuel 11-12 – Balancing Mercy and Discipline

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As a child, our logic is very simple. If we do something bad, something bad will happen to us. Likewise, if we do something good, something good will happen to us. If we displease our parents, they will withdraw their help and benefits. But, if we please our parents, they will help us.

And as adults, we often take that same child-like logic and apply it to our relationship with God.

Yet any parent knows that relating to your children is not that black and white. Sometimes, love will prompt mercy, while at other times, love will prompt punishment.  What occurs between parent and child is not a cut-and-dried behavioral bartering system, but rather a delicate dance between mercy and discipline.

This is the complex interaction you see in 1 Samuel chapters 11 and 12. In chapter 11, God intervenes to rescue His people, despite their rejection of Him. And the people misread their victory as a sign of God’s approval, rather than His mercy.

In chapter 12, the people brace themselves for God’s punishment, because they’ve gone against Him in asking for a king. Yet, out of His love for them, and His desire to uphold His reputation to the world, God promises not to abandon them.

Why can’t it just be cut-and-dried? Why can’t the people stick with the rules and why can’t God be consistent in His discipline?

Because, it’s not about rules. It’s about relationship. God loves His people. Sometimes He directs with mercy, and sometimes He directs with consequences. God will do whatever has the most impact on His people, in order to draw them back into a love relationship with Himself. He patently and persistently keeps turning the dial to the combination that will open our hearts to Him.

1 Samuel 5-6 – When God Parents Teens

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Parent is a difficult job, no matter the age of your children. But it is especially difficult to parent teens. Teens strongly demonstrate and exercise their self-will. They are also very good at diverting blame and misrepresenting loving discipline as punitive retribution.

1 Samuel chapters 5-6 portray the Israelites much like teenagers. In chapter 4, the Israelites independently do what they want to do, without consulting God. Because of this (and previous offenses,) they bring about a disconnect in the relationship…symbolized by their separation from the Ark of the Covenant.

As a good parent, God works behind the scenes (unbeknownst to them) to reconnect the relationship and return the Ark. Like teenagers, the Israelites are happy to receive the blessing of the Ark’s return, but they continue to do what they want to do. They continue to treat God with casual disrespect. And when God disciplines them for this attitude, the Israelites respond as if God is to blame (1 Sam. 7:2)

Too often, I respond to my Heavenly father as if I’m a teenager. I want what I want, when I want it. I’m glad to receive His benefits, but hurt when He disciplines me. And I’m usually more concerned with Him not leaving me, then with me not leaving Him.

I tend not to recognize:

  • All He did behind the scenes to restore our relationship.
  • The fact that He, more often than not, is the one who makes the first move to restore the relationship.

Yes, 1 Samuel chapters 5-6 make theological statements about the omnipresence of God in a pagan culture. And yes, you see teachings about God’s sovereignty and holiness. But mostly you see a God who goes out of His way to move towards His children…even when they have rebelled and disconnected from Him.

Be grateful God has a heart for teenagers…like us!

Deuteronomy 30 – The Choice Is Yours

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Choice. It’s both wonderful and scary. Choice is always there and always available. From the dawn of creation until this very moment, choice has been the canvas on which life is painted. Choice is both the common denominator and the wild card of life.

It’s amazing that God would entrust us with the privilege, power, possibility, and unpredictability of choice. The fact that the God of order would allow us to choose speaks volumes about both His extensive power and love.

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Deuteronomy 13 – Anything Other Than Devoted Exclusivity

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Funny thing about marriage…it needs devoted exclusivity to survive. Marriage can survive all types of problems and upheavals, but it cannot survive if a spouse continues to share his or hear devotion with someone else.

Funny thing about a relationship with God…it needs devoted exclusivity to survive. A relationship with God can survive all types of problems and upheavals, but it cannot survive if a person continues to share their devotion with anyone or anything else.

This is what Deuteronomy chapter 13 is telling us. God must come first! He alone can be God in our life. He alone deserves our highest devotion; (even over our spouse and our children.) He will not share the throne of our life with anything or anyone else. And any attempt to get Him to do so will cause us to forfeit the closeness, intimacy, and trust we had with Him.

We allow so many things to fragment our devotion to God. But allowing anything else to hold the place that only God should hold in our life is an act of betrayal and infidelity on our part, and will create a serious breach in our relationship with God. Anything other than devoted exclusivity to God hurts our relationship with God.

May we examine our life and ask, “Are there any other gods in my life?”