IS CHRIST YOUR ONLY LOVER?

For the past week, I've been pondering on these questions, "Is JESUS truly my lover? Am I prioritizing  the Lord? Have I become too comfortable in this relationship? " During my morning time with the Lord, I came across 1 John 3 :18 which says

My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.

I had noticed the Lord drawing me to Him throughout the week but throughout these moments I was choosing to watch K dramas instead of being obedient, then at the end of the day, I would come back and try to spend the last hour or 30 minutes with Him just to feel better about myself and say that I had at least spent time with Him. I see now that there was some pride involved. I had thought that I didn't need Him and yet my very next breath was dependent on Him. This verse talks of how love should be fueled by action. That it should not only be in talk but there should be action along with the words. Love isn't just feeling warm and fuzzy or saying the right things. It's about how we live that love out through the choices we make, the time we give and how we act in obedience.

I had these long prayers that I would come to the Lord with; of things that now i realize i had brought to Him thinking that I just needed to give them to Him but i just wasn't willing to take responsibility for these things  because if i am being honest, we have been given free will. It is actually very much possible for the Lord to help us do all these things but then He would be more of a dictator than He would be a  loving Father. He wants us to use our free will to choose Him just as Jesus used His free will to choose us and how the Lord chooses us everyday even if He doesn't have to.

I remember having this conversation with my ex-boyfriend at a time about how love is a choice and I did not understand it at that time but over the years I have come to understand this statement. I can feel love for someone but that doesn't mean that I would reach out to spend time with each other. I have come to realize that love does not actually come easy but takes sacrifice and time ; which is not easy at all but it is in this sacrifice that we are able to dive into a deeper intimacy with the Lord. 

I realized throughout this week, I had not been willing to spend time with the Lord but still as merciful as He is , He kept calling me back to Him. Since 1 Corinthians 3:6 says

   It is He who made us capable of serving the new covenant, which consists not of a written law but of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life. 

this means I am more than capable of serving and being obedient to Him and Him alone because of Him. Not by might, nor by power but by His Spirit.[Zechariah 4:6] There is nothing in my own strength that I can do to properly serve Him but by coming to Him daily not as a "checklist" to say I have spent time with Him but genuinely desiring His presence. 

The Lord revealed to me how I would always reach for my phone subconsciously and consistently.I realized that there was this searching for something that i couldn't pinpoint. It would go from 15 minutes to  6 hours scrolling or watching something which the Holy Spirit convicted me about. The word Idolatry goes beyond just worship of statues or images and according to Tim Keller in his book "counterfeit gods"  he says that an idol is "anything that is more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God and anything that you seek to give you what only God can give."

It is anything that we allow to shift our focus away from the Lord and take the utmost priority in our life. The Bible describes Jesus as our bridegroom and when I started viewing myself as a fiancee that definitely changed something because it wasn't just this invisible God i was meeting but my fiance who loves me and has been faithful to me even when I was in love with the world [ other lovers].

So I have a question for you: Have you been faithful to your fiance or have you been allowing your other lovers to sway your attention? 

If the answer is no, then how can we make sure that He is our only lover and only priority?

• Shifting our view. Viewing this as not just any relationship but an engagement.  The Lord  is not just our Lord but our fiance because we are described as the bride of Christ. Are we truly acting like we are about to get married? We need to understand the gravity of those words and I believe our view of people in our lives definitely shapes how we treat them and can add to their level of importance in our lives. 
• 5 second rule. If there is something the Lord has revealed to you that you struggle with , applying the 5 second rule can really help. If you notice yourself giving it more time and focus when you should be spending time with the Lord count 5 seconds, stand up and step away. Don't give space to compromise , think things through or even to change your mind.
  
• Allocating a time everyday  depending on your schedule just for the Lord. You fall deeper in love with a person you spend more time with and just like that your desire to spend more time with Him with increase and you will slowly start having a dependency on Him to where you can't start your day without Him or go to bed without Him.
• Asking Him to highlight our idols to us. As long as you ask, He can reveal things that you never truly realized you were struggling with. This ties in with recognizing our problem  and delivering into His hands.
• Recognizing that the Lord also has feelings. We see all throughout scriptures that the Lord was angry at the people for their disobedience and wickedness. The Bible also talks of how we were made in His image which is why we also experience these emotions because the Lord feels them too. If He feels anger , don't you think He would feel hurt, disappointment when His children run back to the very things He saved them from. The Lord is not this distant ,far off figure who just sits on His throne and minds His business or occasionally looks at His creation but a loving father that desires to reconnect with His long lost kids.

PRAYER:

Lord, please forgive me for the times I used the free will you gave me to choose my other lovers and that I was not faithful to you. Your word says you have made me capable to serve this new covenant so help me depend on you to keep me and not my own will. Reveal anything in my life that I have given priority and importance over you in my life and help me walk in the self control your word says that the Spirit gives. Help me choose you Lord as you have chosen me, honoring you with my life Lord.Help me such that i will walk this relationship out in truth and action. Thank you Jesus. In your name I pray

Amen.