When I look back over the last year or so of my journey, I am simply amazed. There’s no other way for me to describe it. I’m in awe and humbled. God kept reaching out for me and He wanted one thing from me: my obedience. Although that might have been one of the hardest things to give, it has been one of the most rewarding things for me. Somewhere along the line, I realize that I have fallen in love with Jesus. That’s a foreign concept for me. Ironically enough, it was only a few years ago that I learned the distinction of loving someone and being in love with them.
I read somewhere that you can’t come into God’s presence and be the same you were. Each day, I’m learning more and more of this truth. When we take time to sit at God’s feet and speak with Him and listen to His instructions, I realize how much He has changed me and my perspective.
I recently shared a memory of 6 years ago on social media that stated ‘You need a regular appointment with your Creator. God is ready to talk to you and you should prepare yourself each morning to talk to Him.’ I think this was at the very beginning of my slow, but growing relationship with God. A social media friend commented on this memory, suggesting that it needed to be more frequent based on David’s example ‘morning, noon and evening’ as evidenced in Psalms 55:17. I’ll freely admit that I don’t know my bible as I ought to, so I went searching, and it states this ‘evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice.’ I couldn’t agree more. While some years ago, the morning worship was sufficient, over those years, I’ve gone through some things that have made me need to meditate on God’s words both day and night – and as a result of a constant searching, I’ve seen my relationship blossom, and I’ve fallen in love with Jesus, but it’s been a slow and gradual process, until one day I woke up and realized this was the case.
Just like an earthly relationship, this is where the work happens. I can fall in love, but I need to be intentional about my relationship to stay in love. I have to continue to dig deeper into God’s words and seek Him, day and night. We need to have regular conversations to maintain our relationship. The one thing I know, He fell in love with me before I was born and He intentionally chose me. He reminds me in Jeremiah 1:5a NIV, ‘before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.’ He CHOSE me!
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for a loving relationship with you, where you have called me as your own. Thank you for coming after me, time and again, even when I haven’t felt worthy enough to be called your friend, but you saw fit to pursue me, wanting nothing more than my obedience and trust. Thank you for loving me so much that you died for me.