This morning I am reflecting on a few verses from Paul's letter to the Philippians, and just find his words encouraging in my pursuit of Christ. Here are the verses - Philippians 2:1-4 NIV:
[1] "Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, [2] then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. [3] Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, [4] not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."
For some reason when I read these verses this morning they were like a warm blanket to my soul. Paul was reminding us of the affection and love Christ has for us, and encouraging us to look at the world from the perspective of being united to and loved by Jesus! Imagine how our identity would be impacted if we let that fact settle into our heart!
I remember how my perspective in life changed when I fell in love with my future wife, it was as if my whole outlook on life changed when I realized that she loved me as well. There was an excitement and desire for unity, for sharing deeply, an increasing tenderness and understanding of her heart and life. It was easy to think of her first, to value her opinion and wishes above my own, and that sounds very much like what Paul is encouraging us to embrace in the Lord!
I think it is so easy to put our relational faith into the context of works and duty, for we want easy to follow directions and steps. We have so many voices preaching and teaching and that is not a bad thing, but relationships are personal and intimate. We should never abandon our personal pursuit of the Lord, because someone we listen to sounds like they know what they are talking about and we just follow after them. If I did that with my wife, I would be in trouble in a hurry!
The Lord doesn't desire followers of good preachers and teachers, He desires a personal relationship with you and me! Each of us will have a unique relationship, unique ways of relating, hearing, speaking and sharing of life. My relationship with my wife is unique to us. There are similarities to other married relationships, and I have even learned from others, but our relationship is ours and ours alone. In the same way, we are invited into a individual and intimate relationship with Christ Jesus, with The Father and the Holy Spirit. No one else can replace me or my wife in our relationship, and God does not want to see us hand over the control of our relationship to Him to any preacher or teacher, no matter how good they are.
This means that each of us must be internally motivated to grow in our relationship with the Lord. We must desire to go deeper, we must understand His desire for us and join our hearts to Him. Relationships require time and communication to deepen. I have plenty of relationships that never go deeper, and that is because we only relate occasionally, and spend very little time communicating. My time in prayer each morning is where I do much of my communicating with the Lord, but I am also constantly in communication throughout the day. I desire to move to the point of constant prayer (communication) in my life with Him, but I am certainly not there yet.
Back to talking about my honey, when I travel I usually try to talk to her several times in a day, if its possible. In fact ,when I was traveling extensively, friends of hers used to give her a hard time about how often we talked. What I desired was that in my travels that we never suffered a reduction in our communication or intimacy. Despite being separated by miles, sometimes for days at a time, we were both very aware of each other's day, activities, thoughts and experiences. When I got home I didn't need to "catch-up" instead we just continued on growing deeper and communicating with the same consistency. This is similar to my model for relationship with the Lord. I try to spend time with Him every day, and be in conversation multiple times throughout the day. Some days I am better than others, but every day I am aware of the Lord's desire for me to grow in relationship with Him. There are many days I feel that He is waiting for me to grab my bible, my cup of coffee and to come sit with Him.
Ultimately this relationship with Him should have a profound effect on our outward focused lives too. We should learn to love those He loves (I am very fond of all of my wife's friends!). We should learn to see others the way He sees them, as having a priceless value and unique place in relationship with Him. We should see an increase in our compassion and tenderness, for our hearts should become more and more like His, and He is both compassionate and tender. Our hearts should become more outward focused as we see our deep needs for love and acceptance met by the Lord! I find it easy to love others when I am feeling and experiencing being loved. We should desire to see others grow in Love with Him, and encourage them in their pursuit for He is able to love us all, equally well and intimately. We should find ourselves embracing humility, for He embraces it fully very day, despite His awesome power and authority. He chooses to dwell in us, in our hearts, deeming us worthy of His attention! Wow!
Thus, this morning I am encouraged to embrace more fully my relationship with the Lord! I am encouraged to pursue Him throughout my day, being in state of constant communication and affection. I am encouraged to love others, especially my honey, with ever increasing vigor and compassion and tenderness, for I know that my Lord is doing that too. I am encouraged to lay down my selfish ways and embrace unity with all those valued and loved by my Lord! I am encouraged to embrace and treasure the fact that I am loved by Jesus.
Amen!
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