How important is God in your life?

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Ask almost anyone that question and you can expect to hear an exclamatory answer from the other person... "Oh yes, He's very important! Very important indeed! The most important person in my life!" But press the person to think about their answer a little deeper, and you might hear an uncomfortable silence.

When we truly consider the level of importance of God in our lives, the answer is a little more complicated than some of us would care to admit. God is important enough to have proclaimed him the one, true God. But do our everyday actions make that same declaration? When they don't, they betray the reality that God has perhaps slipped a bit in importance. We often turn to God in our most desperate moments—in times of uncertainty, and profound sadness. But ask yourself.... do you involve Him in the brighter moments of your life—in times of certainty, when things are going good for you and your family?

If you haven't been willing to seek Him and His will in both good and bad times, doesn't that indicate His importance to you is a bit more situational and circumstantial that it should be?

I think a little sober reflection now and then is something from which all believers can benefit. Nothing in our lives is more important than our relationship with God. Personal reflection on our relationship with Him may not be easy nor comfortable, but it is necessary for every Christian.

To really understand our relationship with God, we need to understand how He thinks and sees Himself. That inturn reveals His expectations for anyone who seeks to know him and be in relationship with Him. The prophet Isaiah reveals a significant aspect of God’s character that is critical to an enduring relationship with God. Here’s what Isaiah reveals... “For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not like silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.” Isaiah 48:9-11

Perhaps more than any other Biblical text, this one calls attention to the supremacy of God... the God-centeredness of God Himself. Only the Creator of all things could make such a profound self-centered statement. He is declaring why He has chosen to have mercy on the people of Israel in their rebellion and distress. He did it for His glory.

Clearly, we would not want to minimize or marginalize Him in our lives or place Him second in any aspect of our lives. He doesn’t like that. God is the most important being in the universe and He does not like being taken for granted. In fact He will not tolerate being ignored and marginalized in the lives of people who claim Him as their God.

We dare not assume that God will accept that we care about Him and then live our lives inconsistent with what we say. God wants to be glorified in the way we live our lives... in our actions, attitudes and what we speak in words from our hearts. You cannot say... “ Oh, I love God... that goes without saying.” Those would be hollow words to Gods ears, because you are not declaring Him to be the preeminent one in your life. If your life doesn’t match your words... then all of you, your words and actions... go right past Him without significance.

It is possible to take important things for granted—like the oxygen we breath. We don’t give it a second thought. But nothing is honored by being taken for granted. It is no tribute to the importance of anything in our hearts when we say, “Oh, we assume that.” To be assumed may make a person feel indispensable, but it does not make a person feel treasured.

In the same way, God does not like being taken for granted. Too many Christians take God for granted. Just think about our American culture—secular and religious. It seems that God is so pervasively neglected and so stunningly absent and so consistently assumed by those who know he exists and disregarded by those who don’t, that it is almost impossible for this generation to realize that something is appallingly and unspeakably wrong.

Remember, honoring and glorifying God with your life starts with you. There’s no mystery as to how... He has provided many Biblical examples that explain how to honor and glorify Him.

We should live our lives in awe of Him... because He upholds the universe by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3) and controls the affairs of men and nations with conscious purpose and plan. “He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes kings” (Daniel 2:21). “He does according to His will among the inhabitants of earth, and none can stay His hand or say to Him, ‘What have you done?”’ (Daniel 4:35).

God is an important because He knows all things—all motives, all causes, all designs, all effects, all structures, all secrets, all possibilities. “I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my pleasure.”’ (Isaiah 46:9-10).

God is important for everyone because he is the only path to eternal life and the only source of everlasting joy. “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence; with eternal pleasure forever more” (Psalm 16:11). He alone stands at the center of human history and is the measure of all truth and all beauty and all goodness, and in His saving grace hangs the destiny of every human being (John 14:6).

God makes known His displeasure with being taken for granted by telling us again and again that His goal in all that He does is to be honored and praised and glorified and loved and treasured and trusted and sung and declared and confessed and enjoyed. Whew! Maybe that’s too much for some people to deal with. He tells us that no Christian should take Him for granted, but do everything—even the simplest, most basic things—to the glory of God (I Corinthians 10:31). That should come with a “no matter what it takes” attitude on our part.

God cannot be removed from our living experience. Not if we expect to please Him. It’s not about religion. It’s not even about Christianity! It’s His reality we much come to terms with. God made the world and everything in it. He owns the earth and everyone on it. He is the primary being of all beings in the universe. He is guiding the history of every people and nation to their appointed destinies. Everything, without exception, has to do with God. Everything gets its existence, purpose and meaning from God.

If God is truly important to you, then walk-the-walk and talk-the-talk. Okay... He is important in my life. But how do I really sustain my relationship with Him? How deep must my relationship with Him be... to please Him?

Good questions... and we’ll discuss what it takes to really build a lasting and satisfying relationship with the Living God in next week’s article. Hint... it requires LOVE.