What Does God Want In Our Relationship?
What does God want from the relationship between Him and us? There are plenty of things that are good to have in the relationship: Works, Praise, and Evangelism, to name a few. Yet, is any one of these things what God wants in the relationship if it is not supported by a true heart-felt desire to love him and be obedient to him?
In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!"
What the! Jesus says that there are people that are going to be doing good things in His name that He will deny. Jesus will deny some people that are doing good things for Him. Why?
One reason might be that the Father might not want us to be doing something we're doing...even if we do attribute the glory to God. The Father wants us to be doing His will. Not our own. Even more, He wants us to be doing all of His will. God does not provide a list of things for us to do and wants us to pick and choose what to do on the list. God tells us what he wants done, and we do it. We do everything God wants us to do.
Mathew 19:16-24, "Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." "Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, "Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself." "All of these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?" Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
Now what is going on here? The man mentioned in these verses said that he had kept the commandments; he had done good works. ONe major thing was wrong though. The man was selecive. He did the things that were convenient to him, but he refrained from the things that would cause him strife.
We absolutely cannot do that in our walk with God. No matter how tempting it is...and it is tempting. So often it is too easy to think prideful of ourself in respect to our walk with God. It is easy to think, "I'm basically a good Christian. It's okay if I let my guard down for this one small moment." Or, "God is a forgiving God, I can sin this time, ask for forgiveness, and everything will be alright." That could not be more wrong in regard to what God wants from us. Ephesians 5:3-4 says, "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving." It is NEVER alright to sin because we think the rest of our life is in good standing with God.
At the same time, just because we commit one sin, it does not mean that our one shot at heaven was missed. We all have sinned, and we all will continue to sin. We are sinners. It is impossible to live a perfect life. We should, however, strive for perfection. We should never lower our standard to where we accept what God despises: sin, no matter how small the degree of acceptance.
Coming back to the original question; what does God want in our relationship with Him? God wants a fearful, loving, intimate relationship that brings about complete surrender and obedience. King Solomon says it best in Ecclesiastes 12:13 with, "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."