All About The Relationship

“And he said to Him, ‘If Your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not in Your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and Your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?"—Exodus 33:15-16

Have you ever been with a group of friends that were sitting around and decided to go somewhere, only to have your best friend in the group decide not to go? If all were to go, it would be a joyous time, but when your best friend decided not to go it changed your perspective. Why? It’s because of the relationship you have with your best friend. It is all about the relationship. It is the relationship that makes everything else that much better. Think about it. What would it mean for only the groom to go on the honeymoon without his bride? Isn’t it a honeymoon because his bride is with him? Or what about a mother coming home from the hospital after delivering her baby; isn’t the joy in bringing the baby home and not leaving him or her behind? Life is about relationships, and there is no other relationship greater than that of man with God.

In Exodus 33, we get a glimpse of Moses’ relationship with God. Moses has successfully led the Israelites out of Egypt and to Sinai where they are waiting on God for further instruction. Moses had received the two tablets of the Ten Commandments just as the Israelites were creating an idol far below. Angered, God says that He will not go with His people because if He did, He would “consume” them on the way for they are a “stiff-necked people”—Exodus 33:3. But how does Moses respond? He says,

“If Your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not in Your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and Your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?"

For Moses it was all about the relationship. Without God going with them, they were nothing. But with God, they were unbeatable. Without God they were just like everybody else, but with God they were distinct, different from every other people on the face of the earth.

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises in the Old Testament, the “image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), and “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature” (Hebrews 1:3). It is through Him that we have been reconciled to God (Romans 5:10). It is through Him that we can have our sins forgiven and have eternal life (Acts 4:12, 13:38; John 3:16). He is the one who dwelt among us (John 1:14), and the one without whom we can do nothing (John 15:5). He is the one who makes heaven heavenly, and He is the one who is our life (cf. Colossians 3:4). Without Him, we are nothing. Without Him, we have no salvation, no purpose, and no life. For the Christian, there is nothing apart from Jesus Christ. For the Christian, just as it was for Moses, relationship is everything.

How is your relationship with God? Is Jesus your life? If not, then you need to reevaluate your understanding of who Jesus is. If He is not your life, then you are not worthy of the life that God promises to those who love Him, because you have failed to understand the essence of the gospel.

O LORD my God. I long for You. Forgive me for pursuing any life apart from You. Help me to make the pursuit of my relationship with You of first importance. Help me to understand Your love, Your grace, and Your salvation. And may my heart become one with Yours so that Your thoughts become mine and my heart is filled and broken by the things that break Yours. In Jesus’ name. Amen.