building the foundation

the foundation of the christian faith is the relationship we have with God. "do this, dont do that" is very important, but it does not negate the need to develop and grow the relationship. going to church helps, but is not nearly enough. how well do you know the people you only see for an hour or so a week at church on sunday? not very, i can assure you! unfortunately, that is about the extent of many christians relationship with their Father.

a common thing to hear is "i try to pray, but i cant concentrate, i get sidetracked". well of course, what do you expect? for someone who has barely any relationship with their Lord, time in prayer is like being locked in a room for 10 minutes with your great aunt from Russia as she knits a new sweater in her rocking chair. you cant understand what she is saying so you end up talking about yourself. very awkward. now counter that with being locked in a room for 10 minutes with your best friend or a family member you really like & know. 10 min will go by in a heartbeat. the Holy Spirit is to be our guide, but many of us cannot understand the Spirit because we do not understand His "language". the more time spent with the Lord, the better we can understand what the Lord may be telling us. as Jesus says, "My sheep know My voice" (John 10:27).

i get a kick out of people who misuse the term "legalism". sadly, some Christians think that following the Bible "to the T" is legalistic. "the Bible says to tithe 10%, but i dont want to be legalistic, i can give 5%"; "the Bible teaches that sex before marriage is wrong, but i can live with my girlfriend, i dont want to be legalistic"; "the Bible says to honor the sabbath and keep it holy, but i can work on it, lets not be legalistic". the truth is, most of the time the "legalistic'" card is pulled is because someone wants a loophole around something the Bible teaches. dont want to do what the Bible says? no problem! we'll just say its legalistic and do what we want! so what then is legalism?  it is thinking that you can earn a better status with God based on the sin you refrain from doing -- i.e., by being "good".  the lesson here is two fold. #1) if the Bible teaches to do or dont do something, God expects us follow through! (John 14:15, Leviticus 22:3, Numbers 15:40) --and remember, He not only looks at our physical actions, He also looks at the hearts intention (Matt 5:22, 28). #2) we cannot earn a better status with God -- or grow our relationship with Him -- by simply avoiding sin. (Matthew 19:16-22).

so how to we build a relationship with the God of the universe? some make it seem so complex...they do, do, do, do, do...sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice. what is God saying? He is saying "you want a relationship with Me? how about you spend time with Me!" WOW, what a complex notion. why is the simplest solution the hardest? why is it EASIER to just give the church more money? why is it EASIER to help your poor friend fix his lawn mower? why is it EASIER to just refrain from evil? because it is back to being locked in the room with your aunt from russia. what you may not realize is that your russian aunt is actually quite friendly & interesting and has a great number of wise things to share with you -- but you just have to get to know her a little better and figure out what she is trying to tell you.

remember this: salvation is a gift, it cannot be earned...relationship is earned, it cannot be given.