What price or thing would tempt you away from your husband/wife? If you’re not married, what would separate you from your best friend? Let’s raise the stakes: what could someone offer you that would tempt you away from God? It’s easy for us to say, ‘I wouldn’t let anything come between me and God’. And we mean it. But be honest – have you ever put off your Bible study time to go and do something more ‘fun’? Ever decided not to pray because you’re too busy that day? It doesn’t seem like much, and we don’t mean to let anything get in the way, but if we can give in to the little things, we can lower our resistance to the bigger things too. If we struggle with commitment to our perfect heavenly Father who loves us unconditionally, we’re going to come up against difficulty when we’re in a relationship with an imperfect, flawed human being who tests our patience. As we said in yesterday’s reading, all relationships are made up of imperfect people. (That includes friendships as well as romantic relationships.) And let’s not forget that we’re one of them. But even though we make mistakes, God never gives up on us or stops being committed to us. The Bible tells us that ‘love can’t be bought; love can’t be sold.’ There’s absolutely nothing that can take away His love for us. So first, let’s work on our commitment to Him. Let’s refuse to let anything come between us and God. As we strengthen our relationship with Him, we’ll discover the people He created us to be…people who love and give generously, allow others to be real, limited, changeable human beings, and look to God for guidance and strength. And when we try to live that out, we’ll strengthen all our other relationships too.
What now?
Choose a book of the Bible and commit to reading it a bit at a time until you finish.