Hammer on Anvil '

Recently God has been showing me how I have treated my relationship with Him like a contract. "Okay God, I'll get up at 5 a.m. to pray and read the Bible. YOUR part is to ________." I expected God to come through and fulfill His part of the bargain based on whether I performed certain spiritual disciplines. In short, I was telling the Creator of the universe how to do His job.


What gall! How could I treat what should be a cherished Father/child relationship as if it were a business deal? And oh, if God violated the terms of the contract, He would have some explaining to do!

I have struggled for consistency in my spiritual walk for as long as I can remember. I was constantly on the lookout for clues/solutions that would suddenly zap me into the model Christian I longed to be. "Oh, if just do this-or-that, or have this-or-that experience, I'll finally be changed!"

But notice where the focus is in these statements? It's on ME. It was all about something I could do in order to get into God's good graces. Isn't that called a works mentality?

Yes, that's exactly what it is. Much like I used to "perform" for my earthly parents in hopes that they would accept and love me, I was doing things to try to get into my heavenly Father's good graces. One thing is very wrong with this type of behavior -- you tend to forget that Jesus already accomplished everything that needed to be done. That's how He was able to say "It is finished," when He died.

As I was repenting about my callous indifference to my Father's great love, I was reminded of a Keith Green song that addressed this mindset. The first verse is as follows:

My son, my son, why are you striving? 
You can't add one thing to what I've done for you. 
I did it all while I was dying; 
Rest in your faith; My peace will come to you.

You see, my dear brothers and sisters, we don't have to strive to be in a particular position with God.We cannot make ourselves more presentable to Him than Jesus has already made us. "But," you may argue, "Faith without works is dead! I have to work for God!" Yes, in order to be a follower of Jesus, we must deny ourselves daily, take up our cross, and follow Him (Luke 9:23). But this speaks of a life totally surrendered to God, and if you are striving every day, wearing yourself out trying to be acceptable to Him, that's a sure sign you are not in right relationship with Him.

If today you find yourself exhausted and in a place of striving, I encourage you with the words of Psalm 46:10 - "Be still, and know that I am God." Stop focusing on yourself and what you perceive are your shortcomings and failings. Instead, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).