“I need God more than anything else in life” or “I need God more for everything else in life.” Let me begin here with a question to the hearts out there, “Which one of the above do we endorse through our life?” It is true that there is no want of Earth that Heaven can’t provide, but are we consumed so much by the happiness of this Earth that, today many among us have forsaken to live in the hope and joy continuing in this bond with the God of heaven.
John 13-17 is said to be the series of farewell dialogues. This discourse has distinct components: we read Jesus spending His last evening with His disciples, washing their feet, telling them that He will be going away to the Father, giving them a new commandment to love one another as He has loved them, warning the disciples of upcoming persecutions, reassuring them that He will send the Holy Spirit who will guide them, and also an intercession for His followers in John 17.
However, like most of us who forget His eternal perspective in a particular circumstance and get caught up in the ‘now’ or the ‘temporary’ sight, the disciples also in the course of this discourse, seem to be at unrest and nervous about Jesus’ ascent. In John 14:8 also, Philip says “LORD, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Now Jesus aware of their troubled hearts are trying to comfort them by assuring that He has a far fuller perspective than of what they now see and understand. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1). When yoga, and meditation, and motivational sessions taught us to conceal or suppress the heartache and move on, the God who created the human heart understood its every single worry thus He mentioned the problem, precaution, and cure for a trouble-free heart altogether in a verse. Although He never formulated any remedy for a trouble-free life, many believers in this day and age presume that the working of God over their situations is inversely proportional to the troubles in their life. A true-believer will decipher that only “believing is seeing” and it isn’t the other way around. Remember, the surest road to the truest vision of God is through faith alone.
If we too have a mission, of a vision of God, like Philip which as a human is the greatest need in this advance through the Earth, we ought to be a ‘Faith walker.’ Every day when new challenges and obstacles present themselves, the heart of a faith walker has full assurance in God that the God he/she serves is able to deliver them from it, and He will surely deliver them: but even if He does not he/she will be faithful in their walk before the LORD. When God becomes necessary, obedience to His commandments develops into an incumbent and obligatory concern, pursuing Christlikeness seems to be an ineluctable attitude, and amidst fear trusting Him becomes certain. When believers apprehend God as a mere accessory, conformity and deference to His Word grow into an adjunct and secondary concern.
A heart check-up is requisite. Let’s ascertain if God in our lives is the Necessary or an Accessory.
1. Do we have unwavering faith in our reactions and responses towards His work at all times?
Are we filled with gratitude when God allows pleasant, comfortable situations in our life and abandon that gratitude and begin to grumble when He chooses to send something that is difficult? When life changes suddenly into something different than what we expected it to be and in such times of pressure, if we grow upset and angry, and resentful then we are no better than gift worshippers.
2. Do we delight to follow certain ideologies or pattern of actions rather than delighting in God Himself?
Being a ritual and being spiritual is an entirely different matter. If our focus is in being a busy Christian than on being a productive Christian then our focus has shifted from pleasing God to pleasing men. We adore to function not even perceiving the true will and purpose of God about our life. Nothing is more useless and destructive than a vessel that looks creative and artistic but cannot fulfill its sole purpose.
3. Do we relish to discharge our responsibilities and functions towards our fellow beings?
Most Christians succeed in loving others as Christ loved us, but the question is do we succeed to live in that commandment consistently? Are we trying to live out consistently the selfless love of Jesus before the world?
Scripture teaches us that as a child of God, delighting in Him is our highest obligation (Matthew 22:24-30). You can work for God yet not love Him. Performance doesn’t determine our love for GOD but preferences do. A heart that longs to delight in His presence is pleasing in the sight of the LORD than a heart that wants to be busy for God. God can never be a side addition to our life. For most, today, it is so easy to make God an accessory who can fit in every place in our life except in the very center. But the fact is He wants to be the center of our lives—and nothing less.
