These past several weeks God has stirred me toward deeper contemplation of the place I give Him in my heart.
God has used the past six-months, in particular, to teach me that, as Christians, we each must decide for ourselves the depth of commitment we’re willing to experience in our relationship with Him. How much of our hearts are we willing to surrender to Him, by depending on Him for satisfaction of our deepest relational needs, versus looking outside of Him to be satisfied?
God created us to desire relational connection, ultimately that we might find and experience Him. With this intrinsic relational desire that we all have, we’re susceptible of falling prey to elevating human relationships, over the Lord, for trying to find satisfaction for our deepest needs (including the need to be loved and accepted).
We need to guard our hearts and minds against this, holding firm to the truth that all our human relationships (even the most intimate) are to be secondary to the intimacy we’re to experience with God.
That’s why Jesus said:
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).
The Lord is to be the one who satisfies our deepest needs, not people.
So, what do we do if/when we find ourselves in a place where we’ve drifted-off in giving priority to human relationships, over the Lord, for finding satisfaction of our deepest needs?
Well, we need to recognize it for what it is – a heart problem, in which our heart is a little harder towards God, in so far as we’re looking outside of Him for satisfaction of the needs of our heart.
The solution is found in the Prophets, “plow up the hard ground of your hearts” (Jer. 4:3), and at Hosea 10:12, “Break up the hard ground of your heart, plant righteousness, and reap the blessings that your devotion to me will produce. It is time for you to turn to me, your Lord!"
May we have hearts that are soft toward the Lord, dependent upon Him for all our deepest needs.