The danger of a familiar walk with Christ.

January 2

Luke 2

The title today my seem strange because I am constantly “pushing” people to have a better relationship with the Lord, spending time in prayer, in His Word, and with His people. Like any relationship our relationship with the Lord can be taken for granted, we can become too familiar.

Anna and Simeon are two who were constantly seeking the Lord. They kept their relationship with the Lord fresh. They were always looking for the Lord. Our lives are so daily it is very easy to get used to depending on ourselves, to forget about the Lord and just do our own thing. We don’t do it with a sense of malice normally it is because of the busy-ness of our lives distracts us from taking the time to wait on and look for the Lord.

Joseph and Mary exhibit some of the familiarity that we should be concerned about. Just a few years earlier angels had announced His birth, wise men and shepherds came to worship Him. Joseph and Mary had experienced miracles as no one had experienced before yet they took it for granted. Jesus took advantage of the rare trip into Jerusalem to meet with the religious leaders. Joseph and Mary did not understand, they had forgotten or were neglecting who their son was and thought about him like any other boy of his age.

How does this apply to us? It is easy for us to forget all the great things God has done for us. It is easy to belittle them or make them so familiar that we don’t see them for the amazing gifts that they are. The next time we need a miracle because the last ones were so familiar, we panic first, we worry first, we hesitate with faith rather than seeing the Lord for who He is and what He has done for us.

God is God! He is all-powerful and amazing. We need to remember the miracles in our lives for what they are, God reminding us of His love and care for us and that we are His children.

It is very easy to think of God’s miracles as coincidence rather than a miracle. It is easy to take them for granted or to think we had something to do with them. The Lord wants us to keep our relationship fresh.

Remember His love, mercy, and grace and continual. Keep it fresh, never take His love for granted. Always look for the Lord active in your life. He is your loving heavenly Father keep your relationship fresh with Him always. The reward is seeing Him active in your life everyday.