Fellowship with God: our greatest priority
You may have heard the story about two Christians who were talking about their
churches, and in the course of the conversation they compared notes about the
greatest thing their respective congregations had accomplished that past year.
One of the men volunteered, “Well, that’s easy. We doubled the size of our
parking lot and put up new lights.” We Christians can often become so
wrapped up in doing what we think is God’s work that we have little time
left for God.
Our priorities
We can become distracted from our mission, and consider the physical
activities of ministry (even though they are necessary) so important that we
have little if any time for fellowship with God. When we are busily engaged in
hectic activity on God’s behalf (at least at the time it seems that we are
engaged in God’s business) we can forget what Jesus said in Matthew 23:23:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You give a
tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the
important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should
have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
The teachers and Pharisees lived under the specific and rigorous physical
standards of the old covenant. Sometimes we read this and scoff at the
nit-picking exactness of those people, but Jesus was not scoffing. He told
them that they should have done what the covenant demanded of them.
Jesus’
point was that the physical details were not enough, not even for those who
lived under the old covenant – he corrected them for ignoring the deeper
spiritual issues. As Christians we should be busy with our Father’s
business. We should be generous with our giving. But in all of our activity
– even activity that is directly related to following Jesus Christ – we
should not neglect the fundamental reasons why God has called us.
God has called us so we can come to know him (John 17:3). It is possible to be
so busy with God’s work that we neglect to come to know him. Luke tells us
that when Jesus visited the home of Martha and Mary that “Martha was
distracted by all the preparations that had to be made” (Luke 10:40). There
was nothing wrong with what Martha was doing, but Mary chose to do the most
important thing – to spend time with Jesus, to get to know him and to listen
to him.
Fellowship with God
Fellowship is the most important thing God wants from us. He wants us to
come to know him – to be with him – to spend time with him. Jesus set an
example for us when he slowed the pace of his life to spend time with the
Father. He knew the importance of quiet moments. He often went into the
mountains to pray. The more mature we become in our relationship with God, the
more important this quiet time with God becomes. We look forward to being
alone with him. We realize we need to listen to him for comfort and direction
in our lives.
Some time ago I was talking with a Christian about prayer-walking. The
individual explained that this activity combined fellowship, prayer and
exercise – and that this kind of prayer-walking had revolutionized his
prayer life. When he talked about prayer-walking he did not mean parading his
righteousness in front of others or making his views known to others by some
kind of political demonstration. He was simply spending time with God by
taking walks – either in his immediate neighborhood or in the beauty of
natural outdoor surroundings – and praying as he walked.
When we make fellowship with God a priority, all of the urgent issues in our
lives seem to fall into place. When we focus on God he helps us understand the
priorities of everything else. Jesus told us to seek the kingdom first, and
that all of the other things in life would be taken care of (Matthew 6:33). We
can all become so busy with activities that we neglect 1) to spend time with
God alone, in prayer, and 2) to meet with others in fellowship with God. If
you are stressed out, burning the proverbial candle at both ends, and you
don’t know how to accomplish all of the things you have to do in life,
perhaps you should consider your spiritual diet.
Our spiritual diet
We may be stressed out and spiritually empty because we are not eating the
right kind of bread. The kind of bread I’m talking about is absolutely
necessary for our spiritual health and survival. This bread is miraculous
bread – in fact, it is the real wonder-bread! It’s the same bread Jesus
offered to the first-century Jews. Jesus had just miraculously provided food for
the 5,000 (John 6:1-15). He had just walked on the water, and still the crowds
asked him for a sign as a reason to believe in him. They explained that their
forefathers, the ancient Israelites, received a sign from God, manna, and
called it bread from heaven (John 6:31).
Jesus responded, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you
bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from
heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life
to the world” (John 6:33). After they asked Jesus to give them that bread,
he declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go
hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35).
Who is putting spiritual bread on your table? Who is the Source of all your energy and vitality? Who gives meaning and significance to your life? Are you taking time to get to know the Bread of life?
Joseph Tkach
Copyright © 2002
