Ownership: on one level it denotes a legal status and often includes documentation and rights associated with something owned, such as a car or home.
On another level it’s the expression of something or someone always with you, sometimes physically and often in spirit. Because you so closely associate with it, you consider it your own. On a third level, you own because you create, as in intellectual property.
Ownership can refer to pets, to sons and daughters (figuratively since we don’t own our children) and even to God. Of course with ownership comes responsibility, particularly in the care and feeding of children and pets.
We don’t own God, yet He approves when we take ownership of our relationship with Him: “I will be their God and they shall be my people” (Jer 31:33).
By putting God first with no other gods before Him, we’re mastering the basics of this all-important relationship.
If we take our relationship with God seriously and accept responsibility for the quality of such, we will act consistently with its priority in our lives and its impact on this life and the next. Just as in other relationships, we’re responsible for the care and feeding of it.
Critical elements of nurturing your relationship with God:
Spend time alone with God
The more time you spend alone with God, the better you get to know Him, the more you come to love Him and the more likely it is that you will obey Him.
Read God’s Word
This is God’s story, penned by those He inspired. It is the story of our salvation, important to know and share with others.
Practice God’s divine presence throughout the day
God is omnipresent and accessible for praise, intercessory requests and expressions of gratitude. Many have these conversations only within the four walls of a church.
With practice over time, your ongoing dialogue with God can and will feel more natural.
Wonderful byproducts of a close personal relationship with God:
- We get to know God better
- We hear God when He speaks
- We see God working around us
- We spot God in others
- Get to know God, how good He is, how God He is.
Be ready to experience Him and His divine nature and He will indeed be your God and you will be His child.
John Earl Carroll is an entrepreneur and author from Mount Pleasant. Contact him at john@johncarroll.com.