It's All In The Name

It is so interesting to watch how people engage God in their lives. We do things for God, we receive from God, we want God to use us to accomplish things in the world. But it is not so much that we think of God wanting to be with us. 

Isaiah 7:4 says "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel". Immanuel (or Emmanuel) means "God With Us". Even in his name, God is establishing that his disposition towards us is not one of a removed ruler, but of a personally present God. 

We often give God distance in our minds and in our lives. For some, it's out of reverence. For some, it's out of fear. For some, it's because they think He is indifferent. But God is actually a God of presence. He is greatly concerned with being able to be in deep, intimate relationship with each of us, and with all of us. Jesus, an exalted, high-above-all God, comes down and lives with us. He embodies and models an incarnational, self-emptying life and ministry. He served and He loved those around Him. This is who God is and wants to be to us!

This week, make time to reflect on how you experience and engage with God. 

Is he a God that you have a transactional relationship with, doing things for each other to accomplish goals? Is he distant, giving orders and demanding glory from far away? Is he a wish factory, where you send prayers but don't expect presence? 

What shifts need to be made to realize that God is a God of relationship, desiring to walk through life with you? What would change in how you lived life if this was true?