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Growing up, I never heard much about my dad's father. I knew he existed since my dad wouldn’t be here without him, but I never heard anything about him. Occasionally, my dad would talk about waiting by the door to meet his father, but he never came. The reality is, he was present on earth but absent from my dad's life.
Fortunately, my dad didn’t fall into the same pattern as his father. He has been present all of my life, even when I didn’t want him to be. I can’t help but imagine what went through his mind as a kid, though.
"I know my dad loves me, he’s just busy."
"I’m sure my dad planned on coming to see me, he just had something important to come up."
Maybe he even went as far as to imagine his dad talking to him in dreams or fantasies. However, the truth is that he never had a relationship with his dad. The sad reality is, most Christians have this same type of relationship with God.
I heard a rapper say once, “I pray to God every night, but he doesn’t say anything back." Then he proceeded to talk about robbing, shooting, and other violent things. What makes us think that we can do whatever we want and have a relationship with God?
”We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and a worshiper of Him and does His will, He listens to him.“ - John 9:31 AMPC
Most Christians spend a majority of their life doing whatever they want, eating whatever they please, going wherever they please, and doing whatever they please. In the Bible, though, it was not possible for anyone who did whatever they wanted to have a relationship with God.
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" -Matthew 16:24-26 NIV
The other day, I heard a pastor say that we should make time for God. Isn’t it interesting that as Christians we're told to make time for someone we claim to have given our life to?
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking." - Romans 12:1-2 MSG
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2 :20
Imagine if I was a slave and I told my master, "I’ll squeeze you into my schedule when I have time." Wouldn’t he beat me? And then proceed to disown me?
The truth is, until you surrender every part of your life to Him, you will not hear from God. You will have to keep looking to random sequential numbers and cool phrases on license plates for your divine direction and guidance.
Question of the day: If God doesn’t speak to you, why lie and say that He does? Where has talking to yourself and claiming it's God gotten you?