I Have Been With You...

Okay, so we're a bit late to start the Easter season at The River... but Hey, better late than never, right? Over the next five weeks, we'll hone in on the implications of Resurrection Sunday... this week's focus is on God as a personal being.

Here is the text relating to the sermon/discussion this Sunday: 2 Samuel 7:1-17

 Is God personal? I mean, you hear it all the time, right...

"I don't have a religion... I have a personal relationship with God."

But what does that mean, exactly? This morning at our bi-weekly men's breakfast, affectionately known as "Nude Pagan Society"(actually it's New Canaan Society), the question came up this very morning... Just exactly what does it mean to have a personal relationship with God? Can He be seen? (Not by anyone I know.) Can He be heard? (Only in subtle ways that could be construed as subjective.) Is He my friend? (Uh... perhaps in a sense, but then again, how can mere humanity and an eternal, self-existing, unfathomable being of sheer power become buddies?) Are we equals? (Oh, heck no!) Does He love us wacky humaniod creatures... even in our sinful, self-destructive, and utterly stubborn fickle-ness? (Yes... according to the Bible, He loves shamelessly, sacrificially, emphatically, and relentlessly!)

So how does the jumbled chex-mix of descriptions and questions above answer our initial question... is God personal? If so, how? What exactly has to take place in order for us to "get personal" with the Creator of the universe? Is it something we do as humans? Does it have to come from God? Where do God and people have to intersect in order to establish some form of relationship with one another?


I have a definite answer... at least it's my answer. Are you ready? Here it is...


I don't know.


Really. I don't know. Its' a deep mystery beyond my ability to understand, much less articulate. I guess the biblical answer is grace... that is, unmerited favor.


God, in His mercy, somehow determined to love us... all of us... for reasons that boggle the human mind. As such, He reaches out to us, and offers to forgive our sins, and restore us to our pre-Adamic righteous standing before Him. Though we are born into this life completely lost, wandering, bound up, and dying in our sins... nevertheless, He unilaterally comes to us and offers to free us from the prison of flesh. He offers life... He offers freedom... He offers salvation... He offers all of Himself to those who will listen. There is only one catch beyond the willingness to accept the gift. Just one, simple, relatively small requirement in order to fulfill our part of the covenant: Walk by faith... that is, trust Him with all of who you are, obey His commands, and release your life - all of your life - to Him, in order to be molded shaped into His image... by His Spirit.


That's what David did. David was a man after God's own heart.


Was David perfect in everything he said and did? Heavens no.


But was David "perfect" in his passionate love of (and passionate willingness to align himself with) God's ways? Oh yes... most definitely! David had a "personal relationship" with God. David had amazing faith in the goodness and trustworthiness of the Lord of Hosts. In all he knew how to express it, David went all out for God every moment of every day. And God loved David's heart!


David was a violent, murderous, cheating sinner of a man who deserved death... just like the rest of us. But instead, God gave him a full life... real life... eternal life. That's just what friends do!


Is God your friend? Does your heart beat with the Lord's? Does He love your passion for the kingdom? Does His favor (unmerited favor) rest upon you as it did so powerfully on David? 


If so... then good for you!


If not... why not? Is there something God needs to do first...? Or do you need to look deep within your own heart, and ask what is interfering with your "personal relationship" with Him? He wants to speak to you, you know. He wants to reveal Himself to you in profound new ways. He wants to bless you beyond your ability to imagine. But He won't force Himself. Instead, he patiently waits for you to return, and seek His face. He's in no hurry... In fact, He's got all the time in the world.  :-)