I am sure you have been told to have God in the center of your life. How does that look and how do you get there, though? Although God is not visible to us, He can become the most reliable, trusted and loving reality in your life! When people are not close to God, they may blame Him for the feeling of separation. But it is not God’s fault. People forget about Him, but God never forgets about us. He is always available to you if you “seek Him with all your heart” (Deuteronomy 4:29).
After God calls us, He expects us from then on to exercise initiative in seeking to draw near to Him. If we do, we have this very encouraging promise: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). It is up to us to develop the relationship. He is always there even though we are not paying attention to Him. He patiently waits for us. The Bible is more valuable than all the rest of the books in the world combined. It is priceless! It is the Creator’s revelation to His creation regarding His plan and how we should live our lives to fulfill our purpose and to obtain, by far, the best results. God speaks to us through His Word. We just need to listen. Do not rush through your reading of Scripture. Take time to think about what you are reading and how God is speaking to you.
Have you heard the phrase “walk the talk”? You can say it means to do what one said one could do, or would do, not just making empty promises. In the Bible, the word walk is often used to refer to one’s lifestyle —how we live our life. To walk according to God’s Word means to apply it, to put it into action. To walk with God means to obey His commandments and to follow—imitate—Jesus’ example. So, we must talk to and walk with God.
As you do these things, your relationship grows. He becomes more “in focus” in your life, but is that all you need to do to have Him centered in your life? No. There are outside influences you need to be aware of that will pull your focus away from Him. “The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray” (Proverbs 12:26). Be careful to not stray because your friends have. Evaluate your friendships and who will keep you focused on God. We are continually faced with choices. We often must choose between exposing ourselves to bad influences or surrounding ourselves with good influences (including other believers). Not only do we want to avoid other people as bad influences, but we also need to avoid bad things. “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [material wealth]” (Luke 16:13). Do not let anything get between you and God. Keep Him as the priority in your life.
Remember, God wants the relationship to grow and will wait patiently for you to seek Him with all your heart. Communicate regularly with God through the reading of the Bible and through prayer. Apply what you learn so you can “walk with Christ.” Do not allow other people or things to get between you and Him. Do this, and you will experience a God centered life.
