Friend of God

Lately in my Quiet Time I have seen certain people stand out as being called a "friend of God." The first, of course, are Adam and Eve. Imagine walking with God in the garden every evening! I've heard this story I don't know how many times in my life, but this time the thing that most stood out was that God came to the garden to walk with Adam and Eve. Wouldn't that be amazing? (Adam and Eve aren't called friends of God in this passage, but I can see a friendship between them, at least before the fall.)

Then we read about Cain killing his brother, Abel. I always thought Cain must have been a bad person, right to the core of his being. I mean, how can anyone even think of killing their own brother? But when God banished him from the land, Cain's response makes me think twice... "My punishment is too great for me to bear! You have banished me from my land and from Your presence...!" (Genesis 4:13-14) Now granted, Cain's first thought was being banished from his land, but the fact that he brings up being banished from God's presence tells me he must have had some sort of relationship with his heavenly Father.

Now comes one of my favorite people in the Bible; Enoch! I really wish we were told more about him. But what a legacy! "...Enoch lived another 300 years in close fellowship with God, and he had other sons and daughters.... He enjoyed a close relationship with God throughout his life. Then suddenly, he disappeared because God took him." (Genesis 5:22, 24) I've often wondered, what about Enoch set him apart so much that he above all others of his time enjoyed a close fellowship with God? What can I do to have what Enoch had? I long for that close relationship with my heavenly Father!

Well as you can probably guess, I'm reading through Genesis. :-) And I've come to see there are several people throughout this book who enjoyed a close relationship with God. I love how it says they enjoyed a close relationship with God. Because that truly is something to enjoy!

Even though I really long for this close relationship with God, lately it just seems out of my grasp. I don't feel close to Him. And I know we can't always rely on feelings because they don't truly gauge the heart. But I've been wondering, what can I do to grow closer to my Father?

Another passage I've recently read is where Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac. That has always bothered me, that God would even ask Abraham to do such a thing! I know God had planned all along to spare Isaac, but it is still a really hard story for me to think about. But I guess the point was, Abraham was willing to give up everything he had for God.

Then later when God called Jacob to move his family, first he got rid of his household idols, and purified his family and moved to where God called him. I thought it was really strange that Jacob had idols, when he was obviously a God-fearing man. So I read a little bit about this, and apparently the idols were something of a "good luck charm." Jacob probably didn't worship the idols, but they were something he had with pagan roots that would have gotten in the way of his relationship with God.

So this morning I got to thinking, what do I have in my life that is getting in the way of my relationship with my heavenly Father? And if there is anything, am I willing to surrender it to Him? Well unfortunately, one thing does come to my mind; my computer. I use this thing more than I care to admit. :-) And nothing I do on it is wrong... but if there is any chance that my time on my computer is coming between me and God, then I need to change something. So for the time, I'm going to put my laptop back in its case, and put it away. I don't know how long it will be; it could be a couple days, it could be a week. But I am not going to use my computer until whatever stronghold it has over me is broken, and I can think of my self as a friend of God. I want to use this time to grow closer to Him.

In any case, I won't be blogging for a few days! But I'll be back. And hopefully then my faith will be refreshed, and I will feel what I know is true in my heart.

Oh, and Happy New Year!

~Emily