You see, no one has cut my hair except my regular barber, Don. When my wife suggested I try the free haircut I told her no because that would almost be like cheating.
That got me thinking this morning. What does cheating on God look like? I think it's when we take some of God's glory for ourselves. It's not spending time with Him when we really should.
Relationships are very important to God. That's why we were created. To spend time with God, to worship God. But God also said, "it is not right for man to be alone" - Genesis 2:18. He also commanded us to look after the widow and the orphan. Who are they? Could they be the spiritual widow? The person who has no father as in God, The Father? And what does it mean to 'look after them'?
I think it means to love the people God places in our lives. But that love is never to take the place of our relationship with, and love for, God. Our earthly relationships are a gift from God, not something we have created ourselves to take His place. I am married, I have friends, none of them should be more important than my relationship with God. That would be like getting the free haircut at the motel outside of my relationship with my barber. My getting a haircut elsewhere would be taking food off his table.
I have people in my life that I love. Dearly. We all have cherished relationships. But they should not supplant God in our lives. That would be idolatry. That would be spiritual adultery. Instead we should praise God for everything we have been given - our relationships, everything. We must not be tempted by the greener grass on the other side of the fence. The free stuff. We were made to love God and to be loved BY God. Our earthly relationships should be patterned after that love, not take the place of it.
When I experience something my first desire is to contact my wife and tell her about it. I might contact a friend to share something with. That's all well and good if we remember to share it with God first. Thank Him first. Praise Him first. Then share. Remember God first in ALL things.
We are blessed in this country with many freedoms. Let us always remember who gave us those freedoms and continue to praise God in everything we do. Doing so fulfills the reason we were created in the first place.
"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;" - Genesis 2:15-16
Made To Love - TobyMac
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