We spend the first part of our lives, times vary from individual to individual, searching for that lost treasure. I think that's why stories about lost and buried treasure and stories of seemingly ordinary girls being rescued by a prince so that they can live happily ever after are so popular among the young. We instinctively know that there is something more valuable than anything we have and anything that we can imagine out there somewhere, and we have lost the location. We also instinctively know the secret truth that it is a relationship more wonderful, special, and fulfilling than all other relationships. We're all waiting for our prince that can take us to treasure.
Then we grow up and decide that longing is foolishness, the innocence of youth. We can't help but subconsciously try to fill the hole that missing piece leaves in our lives though. There is a longing within us that aches to be filled, and we try so hard to fill it by any means, even if we don't realize we do it. We look for something to fill us in that one more drink, in the next high, in that one more bite of food that doesn't even taste good because we are physically full, in the next stolen glance and rush of attraction, in....well, in a thousand or more different ways, none of which work well or for long.
For some, unfortunately, this first phase lasts a lifetime. For all, no matter how quickly we find the piece, the search goes on too long. Because the truth is that the reason we feel lost from the start is that we were never meant to be born with that piece missing. That missing piece, the hole in our lives that we constantly feel the need to fill and can never be satisfied with life until we do, is the missing relationship with our Creator, with our Heavenly Daddy.
We can come to an understanding of this and still somehow miss the point. We realize we need God, and we begin to understand that He wants us. So, we ask, what does God want of me? What can I possibly offer Him? What does He want to use me to do and accomplish? What is His plan for me? And starting with those questions misses the awesome truth that we aren't the only ones who have lost something.
Yes, Adam and Eve chose unwisely and brought separation from God to themselves and all of us who came after them, creating the missing piece in our lives. We are born with an innate spiritual understanding that we are meant to have a deep, connected relationship with our Creator, but not understanding that truth physically and mentally. It's like feeling sick and not realizing at first it's not an illness but that we haven't eaten. When we discover what the need is and begin to pursue and form a relationship with our Daddy that longing begins to be satisfied. The need and craving for the other things that we mistakenly tried to fill ourselves with begins to fade.
But have you ever thought about the fact that as Adam and Eve lost the most important thing in life, God lost out as well? Life was never meant to be so hard. It was meant to be good. It started out good in the garden. Then came the devastating loss of the great treasure that is intimacy with our Creator. But God also lost. He lost the intimacy that He always intended to have with the people He created. Adam and Eve and God had something that has never been had since on this plane of existence, with the possible and probable exception of in the life of Jesus. There was intimacy and connection that we can only imagine and innately long for. There was open communication without barrier or confusion. They hung out together and had fellowship in the truest sense of the word. There were no missing pieces.
Since that level of relationship was lost, every person who has ever lived has been trying desperately to get it back or find a satisfying substitute, whether they realized it consciously or not. But God has also been trying to get it back from the start as well. He has understanding that we do not, so He never even thought about trying to find a substitute. Instead He made a plan, created a solution, to restore that which was lost. He made a treasure map that told the story of the coming Prince. Through Jesus the process of reclaiming what was lost in our lives and in the heart of Daddy began.
What does God want from you? He wants you. You. That's all. He wants the same thing that you innately desire; unhindered, deep, connected relationship. Yes, He wants to set us free, to heal us and to restore us, but the reason for that is because those things must take place in order for Him to have what He really wants, relationship with you and with me. Yes, He may have a job for you as well. You may have a calling and a purpose to help Him do that freeing, healing, and restoring in your life and the lives of others, but that is not why we were created. That calling is not the reason you were called.
The calling of God is not a job interview. It is not a sales pitch for some career or life path. It is not a call to serve in the army of God. It is the call to come home, to find the treasure, to marry the Prince, to be reunited in the relationship you were always meant to have. Nothing more or less. When we respond to the call of God with what job are you calling me to do? we break His heart. Yes, service is a part of the relationship, because when we fall in love with Jesus we begin to want what He wants. He wants relationship not just with me, and not just with you, but with every person alive. And He wants a better and deeper and less hindered relationship with each of us with whom the process of building that relationship has begun. When we understand that and desire that as well, we jump at the chance to serve, to be a part of the freeing, healing and restoring. And there is something each of us can do that no one else can do in quite the same way to help with that project. But that project is not the purpose. It is the means to fulfill the purpose.
The purpose is to have what was lost restored. The purpose is to locate and recover the treasure. The purpose is relationship. All God really wants from you and with you is relationship. He wants you.
Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on
June 14, 2016.
This site is free. If this blessed, helped and or informed you, the best thing you can do is pass it on via the social buttons below. And please subscribe or follow Unshackled Life Ministries on Facebook.
Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.
No comments:
Post a Comment