Donald Wickham’s Blog

Back in June I wrote a blog on our relationship with God.    I wrote about the stages of that relationship.  Here is a portion of that blog.

1. No relationship – unaware that God offers one.
2. Antagonistic – resisting or even fighting God’s seeking us.
3. Accepting, surrendering – Receiving Christ as savior, being adopted into God’s family.
4. Master/Servant – Recognizing that God is God and I am not. Choosing to follow His ways.
5. Friends – Jesus said that he no longer looked on us as servants but as friends.
6. Best of friends, intimate friends, lovers – So close that we intuit the other’s thoughts and desires.

A couple of days ago, John Eldredge sent out, in his Daily Readings the following which expands on my thoughts.

As A Bridegroom Rejoices Over His Bride

11/11/2009

The Scriptures employ a wide scale of metaphors to capture the many facets of our relationship with God. If you consider them in a sort of ascending order, there is a noticeable and breathtaking progression. Down near the bottom of the totem pole we are the clay and he the Potter. Moving up a notch, we are the sheep and he the Shepherd, which is a little better position on the food chain but hardly flattering; sheep don’t have a reputation as the most graceful and intelligent creatures in the world. Moving upward, we are the servants of the Master, which at least lets us into the house, even if we have to wipe our feet, watch our manners, and not talk too much. Most Christians never get past this point, but the ladder of metaphors is about to make a swift ascent. God also calls us his children and himself our heavenly Father, which brings us into the possibility of real intimacy—love is not one of the things a vase and its cr aftsman share together, nor does a sheep truly know the heart of the shepherd, though it may enjoy the fruits of his kindness. Still, there is something missing even in the best parent-child relationship. Friendship levels the playing field in a way family never can, at least not until the kids have grown and left the house. Friendship opens a level of communion that a five-year-old doesn’t know with his mother and father. And “friends” are what he calls us.

But there is still a higher and deeper level of intimacy and partnership awaiting us at the top of this metaphorical ascent. We are lovers. The courtship that began with a honeymoon in the Garden culminates in the wedding feast of the Lamb. “I will take delight in you,” he says to us, “as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will I rejoice over you.”

(The Sacred Romance , 96, 97)

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So the question for each of us is this: Do we see ourselves as God sees us?  Are we wanting what He wants for us?  Are we willing to enter into this relationship with all its uncertainties and unknowns?  To give up trying to control our own lives (how has that been working for you?) and joining our Lover in what He has for us?

As for me, I’m no longer willing to just stay a servant.  I want to be a friend and a lover.

Tags:   bride · bridegroom · John Eldredge · lover · master · relationship with God · servantNo Comments