It Takes Two to Tango!

As I glance out the back windows this morning, our outdoor thermometer on the patio reads about 16 degrees.  A quick look at my weather app tells me that with the 14 mph winds and subsequent wind chill factor, the temperature actually feels like 3 degrees!  A wee bit cold wouldn’t you agree?  I do have to say though, that when I stepped out an hour or so ago with the dog that it did not feel all that uncomfortable.  It was actually quite invigorating!

The unusual cold outside got me to thinking about how relationships can also grow cold if they are not continually nurtured.  My wife and I have both experienced this with friends over the years.  I had a couple of close friends in elementary school.  The three of us were inseparable until I went to the public junior high where my Dad taught and then on to the local high school where I met Piper.  My friends stayed in Parochial schools through high school.  While one of my buddies was a neighbor which afforded us to keep in contact with each other, my relationship with the other eventually became almost non-existent!

My wife also had a couple of close friends, one from school and the other from church.  Their friendships stayed strong until Piper lovingly sought to give them some biblical council that they did not want to hear.  From that point on their relationships were cordial but strained.  I remember that their reaction to Piper’s concern for them was really tough on her to the point that she cried over the situation.  My feisty Grandmother used to say, “It takes two to tango” and you know, the same could be said for relationships. It takes both parties to keep a successful relationship going strong. 

Jesus instructed us to pray to Papa God saying: “Let your kingdom come.  Let your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.”  It would seem to me that in order to pray His will you have to know what His will is… right?  And how do you get to know the will of anyone… by maintaining a deep and close relationship with them!  Here again we see that Jesus was talking about the necessity of us having a close, personal relationship with the Father!

Jesus also made it pretty clear that the way to get to know the Father was to listen to and watch Him.  I quickly counted at least twelve scriptures in the Gospels where Jesus flat out told us that He only spoke and did the Father’s will.  A good example of this is found in John 8:28 when Jesus told His disciples that “I do nothing of myself; but (only) as my Father hath taught me…” (KJV)  Previous to this statement Jesus said “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.” (John 8:19 KJV)

I’ve heard it taught and agree with the statement that “Jesus was the express will of the Father.”  When we spend time with Jesus in His Word, we are getting to know the will of our Papa God!  Then we are able to obey the Master and can pray that which we know is of Him into our lives!  Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it!  Whoever said that the Message of Jesus Christ was difficult?  It is all about developing and maintaining an ever-increasing intimate relationship with the Son of God!

I’ve told about how I could not get enough of talking with Piper during our dating and courtship.  We’d talk all day at school and then spend half the night – EVERY NIGHT – on the phone with each other.  Come to think of it… we continued doing that after we were married as well.  Back in the early 2000’s I blew the budget on my first cell phone because I would spend the major part of my lunch hour at work talking to Piper on the phone.  Now it is kind of one-sided but I still spend most of the day talking to her!  Some things never change!

And that is something that I don’t want to change in my relationship with Papa God as well!  What are your thoughts on the matter?  How much time do you spend on your spiritual phone with Him?  The cool thing is that we have an unlimited minutes plan with Him!  So give it a try!  Give Him a call and don’t hang-up!  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Will and keep asking yourself… “What or Whom am I expecting to stay connected to today?”