Side Piece

-

 “It’s not you. It’s me,” and with that she got up and walked away. His heart sank and all he could do was stare aimlessly as she left. “What did I do wrong?” He said to himself. “Who was there when she needed money? Me. Who was there when she needed a shoulder to cry on? Me.” The more he thought about it the more he realized he was putting in all the effort and it was never a real relationship. Ironically, this one-sided fling reminds me of a lot of people’s relationship with God. 


I’m not calling anyone out except myself. God spent a lot of time in a one-sided relationship with me. Oh, we talked but it was mostly when I needed something. “Lord, if you get me out of this” or “Lord please give me...” was a popular theme of my prayers. That’s whenever I did pray. Days would go by and the Lord wouldn’t hear from me. I knew he was there but I was too busy with my other relationships. You know I had to hangout with my boys. Then there was family time and game time and time for everything else except God. I’m ashamed to say it but I was treating my Lord and savior like a side piece. 


Thankfully for me and so many others, God doesn’t break up with us that easily. Even when we cheat on him, God forgives and patiently waits for the attention every good relationship needs. We give our affection to someone else yet God still wakes us up every morning. He pays for every meal and makes sure we’re taken care of yet we still don’t want to commit. God protects and stands up for us against our enemies but we don’t stand up for him. When people attack the sanctity of marriage we just stay silent. When people claim that men can be women and women can be men we stay silent. We’re more concerned with appeasing people than God so we hardly say a word when curse words fly all around us. 


So what’s making our relationship with God one-sided? Why is it so hard for us to commit to him? We don’t want to admit it but it’s time to face facts. Our fleshly desires constantly pull us away from God (Rom 8:5-9). Our spirit is always fighting against our flesh (Gal 5:17) and our lifestyles show which side is winning. The only way to fix our commitment issues is to let go of our materialism, sexual desires and whatever else you’re putting before God. We can’t do that by ourselves but we’re not alone. 


The Holy Spirit lives within us and he’s the one who gives us the strength to overcome anything and I do mean anything (1 Cor: 9-11). Homosexuality, adultery, partying, drinking/drug abuse, lying, anger– give it all to God and gradually those things will no longer control you. It’s time to move God to the front of our life. It’s time to put our side piece to the side. 


Think about it. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do Your Prayers Tell on You?

-
Do you remember the story Jesus told about two men who went to the temple to pray? One was a Pharisee who thanked God that he wasn’t like other people and proudly listed the things he did right. The other was a tax collector who simply acknowledged his sin and asked God for mercy (Luke 18:9-14). It’s easy to see the problem in the Pharisee’s prayer, but what if we turned the microscope on ourselves? If we took an honest look at our own prayers, what would they reveal about us? So let’s have a little fun and see if we’re more like the Pharisee or the tax collector. The Prayer Life Test For each question give yourself: 2 points  — Often/Yes 1 point  — Sometimes 0 points  — Rarely/No 1) When you pray, how often do you spend time thanking God before asking Him for something? 2) How often do your prayers focus on other people’s needs rather than primarily your own? 3) When you face a difficult situation, do you primarily pray for God to change the situation, or do you ask Him ...
Read more

Passenger Seat Faith & The Trinity

-
It was such a beautiful Saturday morning I just had to lean my head out the window and soak in the sun. My wife was driving and I could sense a little envy for what she calls being a passenger prince. I call it no stress driving because for me  there’s no traffic, no red lights   and no pretending I know where we’re going. My attention was on the sun, a good breeze and good vibes. The only thing disturbing my peace was a podcast playing in the background but as I reached to change the station one of the hosts said, “The Trinity just doesn’t make sense.”  That got my attention. One God and three persons can sound confusing at first and if we’re being real, it can feel like something you’re not supposed to question. But the more I thought about it the more I realized this isn’t about figuring God out on our terms. It’s about understanding what He has already revealed. The Bible is clear that there’s only one God. Deut 6:4 says “…The Lord our God the Lord is one.” That truth...
Read more

Tick Tock. Tick Tock

-
“Another one,” I said to myself while staring at my newest gray hair. “Now I’m matching on all levels,” I sighed as I realized my eyebrows were starting to join the party. The only thing keeping me from looking like a box of Uncle Ben’s Rice was the hair dye sitting on the counter. That was 25 years ago and Father Time loves to remind me his steady march continues. Nowadays it takes a good 5 minute stretch just to work my kinks out and thoughts of beating my grandsons in sports are quickly fading. If you’re like me, you wish you could keep the looks and vitality of youth but I’ve come to realize the aging of our bodies is a daily alarm for us to get right.   We all know people who live the same sinful lifestyle they did when you first met them. Hugh Hefner was 91 years old when he died. Supposedly, he lived exactly how he did when he was in his twenties until the very end. To see someone reject the gift of enteral life because they’re too caught up in this one is disheartening. How...
Read more