My friend said it happened every year, just about the time they opened their pool for the summer. People she hadn’t seen in ages would call her – “Hey!!!! How are you?” with the unspoken message, “Invite me over to swim.” This was pretty much the only time of year she’d hear from them.
How would you feel if that happened to you? I’d guess you might feel taken for granted, or maybe even used. You might think, “The only time they call is when they want something from me.” You’d probably think would want to be with us because they truly liked us, not just for what we could do for them.
It’s easy to slip into treating God that way, living our lives to please ourselves, rarely giving Him a thought. Sometimes it’s only Christmas or Easter, or when something serious happens like health or financial problems. Then we cry out, “God fix this!” And when He does intervene, we slide back into the same neglectful behavior, and don’t think of Him again until something else happens. We treat God like He’s a vending machine, only thinking of Him when we want something. “My prayer goes in, I get what I want, and I go on about my business” (notice how many times “I” appears in this sentence.)
A friend of mine said she once felt the Lord told her, “You’re looking for the gift, not the Giver.” Ouch.
Truth is, God is a Person. Yes, He’s the Creator of the universe; but He has a personality and the full range of feelings. Humans have feelings because God made us in His own image, as a reflection of Himself. So how do you suppose He feels when we treat Him that way?
I don’t want to find myself using God like a vending machine or seeking the gift instead of the Giver. I pray that I’ll get that nudge from the Holy Spirit to warn me if I’m doing that because I don’t want to grieve Him, and there’s nothing like being close to the One Who created us and loves us.
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