And this is eternal life....

The other day, my husband and I were discussing knowing God, eternal life, Jesus and such. I suddenly got such a picture of how I spent the first 5 or 6 years of my christian life. I saw myself being married to God, and because I was still under law, I wore myself out trying to DO all that I could to please God. I would read the bible and saw all these lists, and continually making mental notes of obedience, I would try to live the life of holiness. I did not really listen to God except for the fact that I was married to Him, and He had all these things recorded in His word that I could do to please Him.

Then I got a real life picture of my own marriage to my husband. I saw myself running around being a good little housewife, paying the bills, doing all the superficial stuff that I thought would make him happy and love me more. I found it to not really have a whole lot of bearing on our relationship like I thought it would, much to my disappointment. The truth of the matter was that he already loved me as much as he was going to, after all he did marry me...:-)! 

What it came down to was this! Once I sat down and had some deeper conversation with my husband; I started paying attention to the things he did not like or liked, I could respond accordingly. We would have long conversations about things that happened in his life, and mine. I found out his favorite color is orange, and that even though he is a body builder, he is very modest about what kind of shirts he wears. I know that he doesn't like waking up to dishes in the sink, and he loves when I wear bright colored clothes, but does not like me in brown. He knows that I love food, especially BBQ baby back ribs, and tries to help me not get carried away with it for fear of my health. He has learned that I like to keep things simple, that I am perfectly content with just going fishing, and even though I can be a bit of a slob at times, he continues to pick up after me. 

What I got out of this whole picture is that while I was running around trying to do all the things I thought Poppa expected of me, I was not really knowing Him. My justification was that He said in His word that this is right and that is wrong, so I was living a burdened life of trying to battle not only my flesh, but His rest. Poppa does not care how much we DO, especially if it keeps us from getting to really know Him. He wants us to know Him. That is where the rest is. Then we can respond accordingly as He sees fit. Otherwise we just live a burdened life of trying to obey the law, and become slaves to our flesh. We are new creations, and Jesus wants us to rest in His love and provision. I think it would do the saints a world of good to take a year or whatever to sit down and get to know their Poppa! I know He would love it!

Let me ask you..if you are married, do you know what your spouses favorite color is? Do they know what is yours? If not why? If they do, that's awesome. For those who are not married, what about your friends. Do they know some secrets about you? Your favorite color or food? Let us take this principle up with our Poppa and let it spread amongst the body!

John 17:3 - And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the Only True God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent!

Blessings...Lisa