Encouragement

JESUS, A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP OR AN IMPERSONAL ONE?

by Christian Belyea
03/04/18
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JESUS, A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP OR AN IMPERSONAL ONE

By

Christian Belyea

     Is our relationship with Jesus a personal one, or is it an impersonal one?

     To be sure, when we recite the LORD’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13, out of obligation—just to get it over with and begin our day—Jesus is getting gypped out of having a personal relationship with us.  The LORD’s Prayer was meant to be a model on how to pray, not a recital.  Which is why Jesus said, “In this manner, therefore, pray (Matthew 6:9).  So, to chant the LORD’s prayer everyday is but the vain repetition Jesus warned us about in Matthew 6:7-8.  Or when we wait to say our prayers at night and fall asleep halfway through them, we are not having a personal relationship with our LORD, either.  It means we have gone an entire day without even giving God a nodding acquaintance when Jesus has longed to hear from us with all His heart.

     Rather a personal relationship with Jesus is one where we walk with Him and talk with Him as much as we can throughout the day.  And no, we don’t have to be all formal and religious and groan, “Ohhhhhhhhh, Almiiiiiiiighty Gooooood” whenever we engage with Him.  We just must be our real selves.  After all, He created us as unique people with distinctive personalities, and He just wants us to be real with Him.  He likes us.  He really does!  And no, our conversations with Jesus are not one-sided.  Though we can’t see Him, or touch Him, or hear His voice audibly, He really does speak with us.  It is in our hearts where we hear Him.  Yes, He really will speak to us if only we’ll take the time to listen.  “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 4:10).

     He also speaks to us in other ways.  Often, we’ll ask Him for guidance or to answer a question, and the answer will be in that day’s Bible reading.  Or we’ll find His input in our devotional reading for that day.  He also speaks to us through a myriad of other ways: through the counsel of other people; through circumstances, through our trials, through books, through music; through movies; through what-have-you.  “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).  Believe me, some how, some way, Jesus will answer us.  After all, did God not say, “Call to Me and I will answer You, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3)?

     Jesus even went one further, when He said, “He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21).  Which means, Jesus will impress upon our hearts the requests we make of Him.  All we must do is go into our prayer closet and speak with Him personally (Matthew 6:6).  Anywhere without distractions is our prayer closet.  However, if we are unsure whether it is God speaking to us or not, so long as what we are hearing lines up with Scripture, then it is probably God’s voice and not just our own wishful thinking.  Oh, and by the way, we must keep our personal prayers silent, for God can hear them, and Satan can’t.  After all, we do not want to give the enemy status reports!

     Yes, Jesus loves the lilt of our voices and longs to listen to our prayers.  He certainly misses us terribly when we don’t call home often!  Even if it is but for a moment or two that we talk with Him.  For He truly wants to hear our take on our daily experiences, and He never tires of chit-chatting with us.  He cherishes us that much!  Not only this, but we should talk with Him because we are His friends.  That’s right.  Jesus said we are His friends now (John 15:14).  And as a true friend, we shouldn’t just call upon Jesus when we want or need something, because that hurts Him.  What He longs for is a true-blue relationship.  But if sin is standing in the way of us speaking with Him, let’s just confess it to Him and move on (1 John 1:9).  We don’t have to make excuses; we just tell the truth.  God doesn’t hold grudges, and He forgives immediately.  He just wants a real relationship with us, that’s all, not a religious one.  Besides, what is so hard about telling Jesus here and there, “Hey, LORD, I love You!”  I think He’d like that.  And being real with God has its rewards, too: “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6)!

     So, personally speaking, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is not only possible, it’s a promise proclaimed in the Bible (Psalm 32:8)!