Christian Living

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In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he listed the blessings that Israel had received, "theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ" (Romans 9:4-5). Yet it all counted for nothing in terms of salvation because they pursued righteousness by works and not by faith.

The Message puts 9:31-32 like this: "How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their 'God projects' that they didn't notice God right in front of them."

How easy it is to become absorbed in what we are doing and forget about God, even when the task is a good thing. Maybe it is a role in church leadership, or a church program, or a social justice project. Yet these good things can keep us from God’s best if we become so engrossed in the task that we forget God. God is indeed with us, loving us, encouraging us, reassuring us and yet sometimes God’s involvement in our lives is confronting.

We can become so involved in our Christian projects that we ignore our relationship with God. God's first priority is for us is to have a close, personal relationship with himself. Sometimes we prefer to work for God rather than live for him. We prefer to be busy doing something for him, rather than simply sit in his presence. We prefer to be present at a Christian activity, rather than be present with God.

Anything that keeps us from focusing on God and trusting Him will ultimately takes us away from God. Often it is not the bad things in life that keep us from God's best but surprisingly it is the good things.

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