A couple weeks ago, I attended my husband’s grandmother’s memorial service. What struck me as I listened to people share stories about her life was that though her accomplishments and passions were mentioned, what really stood out in so many memories was the way that she cared about people, the treasured relationships that she developed that lasted for so many years, and the way that she invested herself in others. So much of my life is spent in accomplishing good things, but I am beginning to discover that accomplishing good things means very little if no relationship is being developed. Tasks will come and go (some of them just hit the repeat button for our whole lives), but relationship endures, even beyond the grave.
Jesus shows us this principle in his interactions. How many times did Jesus address the relationship before he addressed the pain? Think of the woman about to be stoned. Jesus said first, “I do not condemn you,” then “sin no more” (John 8). What about the man who was lowered into the house by friends. His first response is “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5). He doesn’t even care about the circumstances of the guy’s disease, the things they want him to do for this man, he cuts straight to the most important thing: this man’s sin, the barrier in his relationship to God.
Often in our lives, it takes pain for us to come to God, and when we do, what we think we really want is for the pain to go away. But Jesus sees deeper into us and fixes first the thing we need most, our primary relationship with Him. Lent is the perfect time to reflect on what is holding up my relationship with God. Is there some barrier in the way? Because nothing else will go right if this foundational relationship is damaged. Spend some time today praying and examining what things are standing in the way of a deep, open, vibrant relationship with God. Then ask Jesus to clean those things away.
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