Is God in a Box?

I was discussing our relationship with Christ (it being a relationship and not religion) with someone recently and a thought came to mind again that has come to mind often over the years when asking myself, "Why do some people have a vibrant, real relationship with Christ and others do not?"  I think the answer is that some people put God in a box!

When you think about it, many of us live our lives in boxes of our own creation.  We also put all of the other people around us in boxes, too.  We even put God in a box.  And when Sunday comes around, we take Him out for a few hours and then we put Him back in.  We don't allow Him to permeate our lives.  We think that it is enough to spend a few hours in church on Sunday or perhaps we may add a midweek Bible study.  None of this is enough!  He wants to be Lord of your whole life every day of the week, every hour of the day.

I think we may be confused!  This life is not our own; we have been bought with a price.  We cannot do whatever we want Monday through Saturday and then sit piously in church on Sunday.  May it never be!  Monday through Sunday belong to the Lord!  Every day is the Lord's day as it says in Psalm 118:24 (NASB) "This is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." 

"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."  1 John 5:11 (NIV)

"Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you."  Colossians 3:4 (The Message)

 ^"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"  John 14:6 (NIV)

"You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all."  Acts 10:36 (NIV)

"When Peter saw he had a congregation, he addressed the people:  'Oh, Israelites, why does this take you by such complete surprise, and why stare at us as if our power or piety made him walk? The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his Son Jesus. The very One that Pilate called innocent, you repudiated. You repudiated the Holy One, the Just One, and asked for a murderer in his place. You no sooner killed the Author of Life than God raised him from the dead—and we're the witnesses.'"  Acts 3:12-15 (The Message)

"From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in—we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us."  1 John 1:1-2 (The Message)

 "With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death."  Romans 2:1-2 (The Message)

"What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.   Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily." Galatians 2:19-21 (The Message)

"Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than are written down in this book. These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it."  John 20:30-31(The Message)

Apart from Christ, there is no life!  You cannot put Him in a box.  He cannot be contained and if you try to contain Him, your new life in Christ will wither as it says in  Mark 4:18-19, ^"And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,  and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful." (KJV)  Jesus wants all of you.  He wants all of your days, decisions, duties.

You may be saying to yourself, "Oh, that's not me!  I  pray everyday.  I read His word.  I don't have God in a box!"  That may well be, but you had better look closely!  Do you discontinue your connection with Him when scripture demands something from you that you are not willing to give?  Do you slap the lid down when God asks you to do something that feels very uncomfortable to you (like sharing your faith)?  Do you decide that certain decisions are yours to make and do not require God's assistance?  Do you take matters into your own hands?  Do you try to control things?  God wants to be the Lord of every area of your life, all day, every day...

If there is an area that you are holding back, I guarantee you that it will hinder your walk with Him.  Find out what it is and give it over to Him immediately!  "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."   John 8:36 (ESV)

Dear Lord,  Please show us the areas that we are holding back from You.  Shine your spotlight on them and help us to hand them over to You so that we might be free to walk the path that You have set before us.  Help us to take You out of the box permanently, never putting You back in.  Thank you for the life You have given us if we will only receive it...