The Purest of Love

Yesterday, a memory from 4 years ago popped up on my Facebook. It was a picture of my grandpa, on a day when I took him to one of his doctor appointments. The doctor was running about an hour behind, so I was entertaining my gramps the best I could, making rooster balloons out of rubber gloves that I found while rifling through the drawers in the little room. That man was my buddy, my ride or die, and someone who I never tired of spending time with. After reminiscing a bit, I was driving through town and happened to be in the part of town where he used to reside, so I took a slight detour and drove by his house. I was wishing I could pull into the driveway, call him up, and say “Let me in, Old Man”, as I affectionately called him. He would have rushed to the door and told me that he had been busy playing some sort of game on his computer (it was the only thing he knew how to do on a computer), and then we would have sat and talked and laughed for hours, as we often did. Oh how I miss that man.

I wonder if Jesus ever sits outside of our house, knocking, calling us up and asking us to let him in, wishing he could sit around with us as old friends, talking and laughing for hours. He sits outside of our daily lives, wishing to be a part of us, wishing to be welcomed into our circle of those we call friends. I wonder if he ever gets tired of being a spectator, and wishes just once that we would let him be an active part of our lives, wishes we would just give him an opportunity to belong with us.

I'm so glad that the busyness of life never kept me from seeing and spending time with my grandpa. We had such a special relationship, such a close bond. I was blessed to get to talk with him about Jesus several months before he passed, and I was blessed to get to hold his hand as he breathed his final breath. Shortly before he left us, he awoke momentarily and looked at me, saw I was there, and he cupped my face with his hand and we both smiled, and we both said “I love you” one last time. The look in his eyes when he looked at me... that was the purest of love, and something I will never forget.

Jesus sees us that way, with the purest of love. He is longing to cup our face and look at us with that reassuring and loving look. If only the busyness of life didn't keep us from seeing and spending time with him. Most of us long for that type of love. We look everywhere for it. And he is right there sitting outside of our house, ready to shower us with it if we would only open the door and welcome him in.

We nurture those relationships which are important to us, we carve out time, we prioritize. How much more should we do that with God? Friends, I can't honestly say that having a relationship with God has been the easiest walk of life. It comes with struggles. It comes with sadness. It comes with sacrifice. That is true of most relationships. But it also comes with so much joy, a joy that only He can provide.

This year I committed to making God my number one priority. Not to just carve out time for a casual relationship, but to intentionally fill my schedule with Him, and He faithfully paved a way for me to do that. If you just open the door, if you just invite Him in to sit with you, if you just lay all of your heartache and sorrow and grief at his feet and give him the reins to lead you as He desires to , I promise you, it will be life-changing for you.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. -Revelation 3:20

Questions: Can you say, honestly, that you have a true relationship with God? Is He someone you commune with daily, hourly, minute by minute, or is He someone you go to merely for help in times of need or distress? What is keeping you from a true relationship?