Building Relationships

In 1974 Harry Chapin wrote a song called, Cat’s in the Cradle. It is a story of a busy man who had a son and did not spend much time with his son. He loved his son, yet his son was low on his priority list of people and things to spend time.

 

When the son was older, he was just like his father. There was not much of a father-son relationship.

 

Today’s reading is Nehemiah 13:10-14.

 

The Jews had returned from exile and had previously repented of their sin. They were now restructuring their lives and rebuilding their culture based on the commandments God had given them.

Is God Atop Your To Do List?

 

However, the Jews were neglecting God by not giving the Levites, God’s priests, their fair share of land and grain offerings. An angry and distraught Nehemiah corrected the situation.

 

We all lead busy lives. Soccer practices, piano lessons, Girl Scouts and swim team takes up a lot of our time. Not to mention our jobs, where overtime is almost mandatory these days. And of course, there is yard work to do and football games that must be watched.

 

Are we neglecting the things God asks us to do?

 

He wants us to “Go forth and make disciples”, “Love our neighbors as ourselves” and “Love the Lord our God”. It takes money to do some of these things and we are to give to the Lord so these things can be done.

 

We are not under compulsion of the Law to do these things. Rather, we should do them because God loved us first. Our response should be a reflection of how we feel about Christ's love for us!

 

The Jews were neglecting their relationship with God. The father in Chapin’s song had neglected his relationship with his son. When relationships are not nurtured, they atrophy and are in danger of dying.

 

Let’s respond to God’s love. Let’s build our relationship with him.

 

Let’s make God our number one priority!