One Sided Relationship

Ever have a friend who took more than they gave?  They need/want a lot from you but don't really contribute an awful lot to the relationship?  I've had friends like that before.  Sometimes you just have to put up with someone like that, but they aren't the ones that you become close to normally because a strong and healthy relationship goes both ways.

What is your relationship with God?  Is it a one-sided relationship.

There are people I know who claim a friendship with Jesus.  They are planning on going to heaven and living with Him forever.  They just aren't at all interested in living with Him now.  The lifestyle choices they make have absolutely nothing in common with a friendship with Jesus.  They don't witness.  Spend time with them among their friends and you would never know that they claim a friendship with Jesus.  They are still eager to get the benefits of a relationship with Jesus-heaven, but are not looking to contribute anything to the relationship.

That is a challenge to all of us.  There are days when I can get busy and not pay that relationship as much attention as it should.  Even when I am doing things for God's kingdom, I need to make sure that I am not merely "being good" but that I am being connected by talking to Him in real and meaningful ways and stopping long enough to truly listen to Him, both through prayer and through reading His Word.  Like any relationship, I need to be intentional in building the relationship.

Do you take more than you give in your relationship with God?  Do you have a strong, healthy, two-way relationship with Jesus?  What will that look like in the way you live your life today?