Thought for Today
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness
1 Kings 10:1 When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard questions. (NIV)
John 10:30 The Father and I are one."
John 1:18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. (NIV)
In the English language, it is common for words to change in meaning over time. Sometimes the changes are subtle, sometimes they are radical. One of the best examples of such change during my own lifetime is demonstrated by some of the words commonly used to describe something which we greatly admire or of which we greatly approve. When I was young, we might say it was ‘good.’ Then, later, we might say it was ‘cool.’ There have been so many changes in adjectives used in recent years, I am no longer sure what adjective might be appropriate. Dope, fade, rad, boss . . .
The theme in one of my devotional guides this week has been Relationship With God. The word ‘relationship’ is another example of an English word taking on new and/or different meaning and connotation. For what it’s worth (or FWIW for you texters), that word does not appear in our New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) from which I usually take my scripture quotations. In my youth, the word was used in terms of its dictionary definition, “the way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected.” (internet search)
Of course, we all remember the use of ‘relationship’ from mathematics, having learned about things being directly or inversely proportional to each other. I’m sure that is how most of my generation thinks about relationships . . . or, maybe just all of the engineers.
Often today, when we hear that word being used in conversation or in a news report, it is used to indicate a relationship of an intimate nature. We often hear of people being in a ‘relationship’ as an alternative to being married. Evidently, for some, a relationship is much less threatening than a marriage, much less confining or constricting. Interestingly for me, our legal system recognizes a relationship that endures for a specific length of time as a “common law marriage.”
But, what about our relationship with our Creator God? What about the relationship among God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit? More importantly, what about our individual and corporate relationships with our Triune God and with our fellow Christians?
As a Christian, as a minister, I default back to that definition from my internet search, “the way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected.”
My relationship with God, the way in which I am connected with my Creator is the defining element of who, what and whose I am. My relationship with God defines me and my life and sets the pattern for all my relationships with others of God’s children.
Certainly my marriage to Greta is patterned on my relationship with God. Those two relationships are the most intimate, defining relationships of my life. They are relationships I am comfortable acknowledging with official, public documents and paperwork. We still have our framed marriage certificate. I publicly present myself as a minister.
How intimate is your relationship with God? Does everyone in your life know that you are a Christian? When I think about those questions, I immediately recall that beloved hymn, They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love. Phrases from that hymn echo in my mind: “we pray that all unity will one day be restored;” “We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand;” We will work with each other, we will work side by side;” and especially the refrain, “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”
Will they know? Is our relationship with God and with each other such that the lives we live demonstrate our Christianity to the world?
Stay safe, live lives of love, trust God,
Pastor Ray