A Personal Relationship with God

What is the most important thing to you in your life? Is it you spouse, children, job, friends, home life, social life or is it, as it should be, God?
There are a lot of things that are important in life, and should hold a priority in our lives. But we need to learn how to prioritize all the important things; so that which is the most important is the one thing we make sure is accomplished. For instance, it is important to rest and relax but how much more important is it that we don’t rest and relax when our boss is paying us to work. You would agree that performing you duties on the job hold priority to you resting and relaxing.
Equally, we need to prioritize our relationships in our everyday life, nurturing those that are the most important. We nurture the relationship we have with our significant other. If we have children, we meet their needs as best we can. We also spend time with friends and professional associates cultivating self and personal growth. And then of course, there is the personal relationship that we should have with God.
Many people do not have a relationship with God. And those of us that do, many of us place Him very low in the pecking order, as to what amount of priority He should have in our lives. Some people feel that God placed us here and then left, claiming we are to do the best we can while fending for ourselves.
Another group of people work very hard at trying to live their life for God. They speak about God in almost every sentence. They are involved in lots of activities. They are very busy doing what they believe is God's will. But what about having a personal and close relationship with God? You could have someone do work at your house and never have a relationship with them. The men that replaced the roof on the parsonage, they were here for a few weeks; they worked hard and did a great job. But they never developed a meaningful relationship with me; accept for getting my work done.
The question then is, for those of us who believe that God is present here and now in our daily lives, does God just want us to be busy at accomplishing His work, or, does He want to have a very close and personal relationship with each of us? I personally believe that the latter is true. It has becomes obvious to me that there is nothing in life that could be, or should be, of any greater importance than our personal relationship with God. Why? Simply put, “Because it affects every aspect of our lives.”
So, how does one go about developing and nurturing a relationship with our Heavenly Father? After all, He is the creator of the heavens and the earth, and I am just me. How do I engage in such a relationship? The same way you develop and nurture a relationship with anyone else. You begin by having a conversation. Talk, speak to God. So many people feel God is unapproachable, but He has made a way for us to approach Him. God gave us His Son, Jesus, so we can come into His presence. God made the first move, He said, “Hello here is my Son”. He is now waiting for a response. While many are waiting on God, He in fact is waiting on us. He is waiting for us to believe in what His Son accomplished for us. He is waiting for us to believe that He has made us accepted because we have believed in His Son. He is waiting for us to come to Him and have a close personal relationship with Him.
Open up your whole heart; tell Him all that is on your heart and mind. Thank Him for what He has done for you; ask Him for the things that you need. In short, make time to spend time with your heavenly Father. When two people engage in a relationship, they make time for each other and spend time with each other. But, it doesn't become a big deep relationship overnight. It takes time. But the more time you invest into developing the relationship, the more it will continue to grow. Develop a close personal relationship with God should be the most important thing in our lives.
Your Servant In Christ, Pastor Ray