Keep me as the apple of the eye,
hide me under the shadow of Thy wings, Psalm 17:8
Reciprocal?
Yes.
Our acceptance of God in our lives.
That is true.
Making a choice to serve the kingdom, rather than this world.
He is there for each of us.
He knows His own.
He takes care of us.
He looks out for us.
He gives us what we need.
He responds to us.
Answers our prayers.
He is listening to be able to bless us or perhaps to correct us,
which is a hidden blessing.
He is a gracious Father who watches over us and protects us from harm.
Like as a father pitieth his children,
so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. Psalm 103:13
We shall not fear.
He is our strength and our shield, our buckler, our strong tower.
The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God,
my strength, in whom I will trust;
my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. Psalm 18:2
We do our part, He does His.
A reciprocal relationship.
That seems a bit trite but it’s true.
It also seems a bit irreverent.
Shouldn’t God be responsible for everything?
He is God, all powerful, all knowing, He is the Lord of all after all.
He does require certain things of us.
There are His commandments, that is true,
the ones about loving Him, loving your neighbor,
forgiving those who offend you, loving your enemies…
But there is more.
The more is for each of us to learn from God Himself.
He is a very individual God.
We can know that because each person has their own DNA,
different from everyone else in the entire world or who has ever lived before.
We all have our own fingerprints that are different from any other.
Our voices are unique.
Those are all demonstrations of His creation
and how He knows us each moment we are alive,
what we have gone through, how we think,
why we think the way we think and the list goes on.
What God asks of each of us is different.
He wants a relationship with each of us that matches who we are.
There are things that only God can teach you,
places in your heart that only He can reach.
It is up to each of us to seek Him and learn from Jesus Himself.
The disciples gave up all that they had to follow Jesus.
He rewarded them with Himself.
What better portion is there?
The Lord is my portion, saith my soul;
therefore will I hope in Him. Lamentations 3:24
He is the living eternal God of Creation, The One and Only Savior,
the Bread of Life, the One who satisfies our souls.
The One who comforts us.
We have our part. He has His.
We honor and obey Him, our part,
the blessings are endless, His part.
Much better than reciprocal.
He gives us way more than we give Him.
We, by far, get the better end of the deal.
Our lives are pale in comparison to who He is,
the God of the Universe, the world and all that is in it.
We can never repay Him or measure up to His stature.
Trying to repay Him is pride.
Just obey.
Sounds easy, but it’s hard.
That’s what He asks.
Follow Him daily, with your cross, putting aside your desires.
Find out what He wants from you.
There is something and He is the only One who can make that clear to you.
Stay in communion with the Lord.
Listen and do what He shows you
and give Him as much of yourself as you are able.
Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great;
thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Psalm 104:1
Scriptural References:
Jesus said unto him,
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Matthew 22:37-40
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking,
be put away from you, with all malice:
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:31-32
But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again;
and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest:
for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Luke 6:35
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life:
he that cometh to Me shall never hunger;
and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.
John 6:35
He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them,
he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father,
and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.
John 14:21