Seek Jesus = Get God

"When you concentrate on God, you can actually enjoy his gifts in a meaningful way. But when you pursue just the gifts themselves, they become the product of despair rather than joy" (page 102).

In chapter six of Jesus > Religion, Jefferson Bethke points out that in a religious mindset, we concentrate on what we can get from God, whereas in seeking Jesus, we get God.  He refers to viewing God like Santa Claus and expecting not only to get what we want, but that it is a mentality of if I do good, I get blessed; if I sin, I do not. Jeff asserts that our focus on this sort of thinking becomes idolatry - making more of how we can be blessed than in knowing and loving God and being in relationship with him.

He goes on to share personal experiences of learning the "Santa Claus God" way of thinking as a child with the struggles and difficult circumstances he and his family faced.  This way of thinking was changed as he studied the scriptures in young adulthood and learned the truth of God, that "...we can’t measure ourselves by what we have or don’t have. We can only measure ourselves by the fact that we love and know Jesus" (page 101). 

I have definitely fallen into the trap of thinking I was being punished or blessings were being withheld due to my sin.  I have also had the mindset that if I was "doing all the right things" I should be blessed.  It was a freeing awareness to discover that I could let go of the mentality of both and just enjoy God's love and presence, knowing that there would be joy and sorrow, but I would be okay in both because he is with me.  Even in my sin, I can come to him and be loved.  Even on my best day, my focus can be on letting the joy of the Lord be my strength and give him gratitude for that.

The progression in my Christian walk went from => believing Jesus existed => believing what he said and did => believing it applied to me => believing it was for me to have an intimate relationship with God who completely loves me no matter what I do. Through that relationship, God will guide me to what his will is for me instead of me guiding him to what my will is.  

I live you with a visual quote that jumped out at me as the summary of this chapter.