It Starts With a Glance

Did you know that God really, really likes you? Often times we are willing to believe that God loves us, but we don't think He likes us. We believe that He loves us so much that He gave His only Son to die for our sins, but we don't think that God actually enjoys us. We don't think that He wants to spend time with us.  We know that we should spend time with Him, but we tend to think that's for our benefit, and don't consider the fact that God actually gets something out of the time we spend with Him too. 

And let's not even talk about how we feel the need to prove our devotion to God by spending time with Him and the guilt we feel when we don't! On second thought, maybe we should talk about that. Sometimes we imagine God as this cosmic task master who's analyzing every move we make just so He can criticize us. But He's actually not like that at all. There's an often-overlooked book of the Bible that tells us a great deal about God's character and the way he feels about us. That book is Song of Solomon.

You might be thinking, "Song of Solomon? That's the marriage book." And you would be right. It is a book about marriage. It's even a book about human, earthly marriage. This is referred to as the literal interpretation of Song of Solomon. However, I'm referring to the allegorical interpretation of Song of Solomon, which is a depiction of Christ and the church. It makes total sense for this book to be interpreted both ways, since human marriage is ultimately a depiction of the upcoming marriage between Jesus and His bride, the church. 

In Song of Solomon 4:9, the bridegroom (Jesus) says, "You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace." If you are a believer in Christ, this is how Jesus feels about you. You have been adopted as God's child. You are a joint heir with Christ--His sister. You are also His bride, and with one single glance His way, you captivate His heart. A glance is not one hour of passionate prayer. A glance is not a vow of poverty and life committed to serving orphans in a foreign country. A glance is quick. It is a thought in His direction. A glance is a whispered 5-second prayer. That's all it takes to captivate Him, and every single glance counts. 

And if a glance counts, how much more is he overcome by your morning devotional? How much does He enjoy speaking to you through His word as you follow the church reading plan? How much does he treasure the fact that you devote every Sunday morning to worship him corporately with other members of His precious family? We're not earning His favor here, friends. We already have it! We're merely enjoying the company of the One we love and allowing Him to enjoy our company too. He's not up there saying, "I gave Maranda 24 hours in a day and she didn't even spend 10% of them with Me today. I'm so disappointed." He's saying, "Did you see that?! Maranda is surrounded by distractions. She's having a very difficult day, but she just looked My way! Wasn't that the most beautiful glance you've ever seen? I'm overcome!"

So what does this have to do with our families and raising our kids? Last time we talked about God's plan for us to disciple our own children and how that naturally flows out of our own personal relationship with God. So, it would stand to reason that in order to properly disciple our kids, we must also establish a strong relationship with God ourselves. Did that statement make you panic a little? Did it evoke any feelings of guilt? That's where Song of Solomon 4:9 comes in. When you know that every glance matters, when you know that He is pleased by your attempts make Him the center of your life, it's much easier to approach Him. Instead of feeling like a chore or an obligation, it begins to feel like a holy privilege. We get to make the God of the universe happy! We get to enjoy Him and be enjoyed by Him. It becomes something you want to do rather than something you have to do. 

And that's where the magic happens. I know He saw me when I thought about His character for 30 seconds on the way to pick up my kids, so I'm more likely to whisper "Thank You" after something goes right for me. And because I know He heard that, I'm more likely to say "I love You" as I pull the laundry out of the dryer. And since I know He was overcome by that, I'll let Him speak to me as I listen to His word while I do the dishes or walk the dog. And then I want to sit down with Him in the evening to thank Him for the day and pray for the next. Before you know it, I'm attending prayer meetings with other believers when I used to think those people were weird. And now I have this whole life in God when I used to be intimidated by the thought of reading one chapter of scripture or spending 15 minutes in prayer. Because I know He enjoys me, I have the freedom to enjoy Him back.

And out of that life in God comes dinner table discussions with my kids about the Bible and what God has done my life. It makes me feel more comfortable reading the Bible with my kids because I trust God to speak and I know He's not upset with me if I don't know the answers to their questions. I can just say, "I don't know, but I'll find out. Let's ask God to show us the answer." I'm comfortable learning alongside my kids because I know God likes me. I'm not embarrassed to email the pastor with Bible questions because when I know God is pleased with me, it doesn't matter what the pastor thinks of my question. [Sidenote: Pastors don't think you are a bumpkin when you ask Bible questions. They became pastors because they actually like teaching people about the Bible. Imagine that! ;)]

Now that we've explored where all of this can lead, let's take it back to the beginning. It all starts with a glance. Give it a try this week. Just look His direction. Give Him a 5-second thought, whisper a prayer, mutter a thank You, and dare to believe that He was overcome by it. What do you have to lose? What are you risking in choosing to believe that God actually likes you and that the little glances count? You might just get to know the Almighty Creator better, and I don't think you can lose with that.

Thanks for read and remember to share this share this post with anyone you think could benefit from hearing it. If you're committed to believing the glances count, leave me a comment saying, "It counts." Until next time...