Our relationships with God and with people

O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice! Psalm 95:6-7 (NRSV)

In Psalm 95, verses 1-6 is a call to prayer and praise for the God of all creation. Then, in verses 6 and 7, our relationship to God is expressed. Praise and worship are the attitudes that we need to adopt in order to be in relationship to God. 

A problem with relationships is that they require constant work to combat the sin that works to destroy them. We are people who become bored or lazy in our relationships, and we get tired of the work that relationships require. This is why some people ride a roller coaster of emotions when dealing with their relationships. Although emotions are a part of any good relationship, it is wrong to allow emotions govern the health of a relationships. Instead, we should constantly work to build a solid foundation that can withstand the strain of sin that is a constant factor of any relationship. This is how we can experience true joy in a relationship.

God wants us to come to Him in praise and joy. God does not want our emotions to be left out of our relationship with Him, but He wants us to work constantly to build a relationship with Him. And this is how we work to build a relationship with God. As the scripture passage above says, “Oh that today you would listen to his voice,” we need to listen to Him—today. We need to read His word—today. We need to pray—today. We need to praise Him—today. The ongoing constant of today requires our devotion to our relationship with God. It is all because of God’s grace that we have an opportunity to have a relationship with Him. What grace!