As important as it is to cultivate our romantic/marriage relationships, it’s even more important to cultivate our relationship with God who is the Lover of our souls. When we get to Heaven, there will be only one marriage – that of the Lamb of God and His bride, the undefiled Church. This is the time to learn to stay in God’s presence and actually enjoy it, not because we are compelled to have ‘Quiet Time/Devotion’ every morning. This is the time to discover more about Him and fall deeper in love with Him with each new revelation we have of His Person.
If we can feel emotional pain when the one we love dearly appears to be withdrawn or distant, why do we feel God doesn’t mind when we distance ourselves from Him? Do we think of Him often or forget about Him until our feet cross the threshold of the building we call our ‘church’? Do we praise Him with our lips while our hearts (our love, our devotion, our commitment) are far from Him? Do our hearts long for Him like the deer pants for the streams of water or is He an accessory we throw on when it suits us?
Perhaps we are unaware of just how deeply God loves us. One would think that the sacrifice of His only begotten Son for us humans would be expression enough of how in love with us He is. We are the ‘apple of His eye’. The phrase apple of my eye refers to something or someone that one cherishes above all others [Wikipedia]. According to the Urban dictionary, “One’s favourite person; the one you love most. In Old English, the pupil of the eye (the round, dark centre) was called the ‘apple’. It was thought that the pupil was a round object much like an apple (a piece of fruit). When you look at someone, their reflection appears in your pupil. So if someone is the ‘apple of your eye’, he or she is someone that you look at a lot and enjoy seeing.”
I don’t know about anybody else, but it blows my mind to think that the King of the Universe is in love with me!! He enjoys my company and always has time for me. Because of how (much) He loves me, I am able to trust Him when He scolds me and when I hurt or offend Him, I can still run back into His arms and tell Him how sorry I am…..and He’ll hold me tight rather than reject me. Me…….mere dust! Incredible!!!!!!
So while I thank Him for the chance to experience the love of men or women here on Earth, I prioritize my relationship with Him above all other relationships and I look forward to seeing Him face-to-face and knowing Him completely.
What a privilege ……. the King and me.