Shortcut to a Relationship

Everywhere you look, there are shortcuts.  I use several one click shortcuts from my desktop screen in order to save time, when in reality I am only two clicks away in the first place.  Then there are "APS" or Applications for the phone and other devices.  You see that are shortcuts for most everything we do.

Last summer I went out and bought a push plow.  As a boy I was trained to walk behind and use this garden device that has a big front wheel, steer it with your upper body, and plow tongs in the lower back.  My Dad explained it as a shortcut for hoeing the ground around plants.  He taught me that if you lean the handles over while pushing  you can throw fresh dirt around the plant stems, kill weeds, and give them new soil nutrients.  I hated doing this but I was reminded that this helped the crops and gave me muscles.  At 150 lbs. I could use the muscles so I learned to love and hate this device.

Even when we broke down and bought a rototiller, I would have to go back down the rows and throw the fresh soil against the plants.  So much for shortcuts.

On-line dating or Cyber Dating is big today with one commercial noting that one in five relationships come from on line dating.  Yet you can put anything down on a profile and can get that date even though you do not reveal your true self.   I know of people who have invested several dates and a lot of time into an on-line relationship only to discover that it is not the real person they seeked.

Now I read on the Internet that churches are offering shortcuts for every aspect of religion.  Drive-in churches have been around for many years where you sit in your car with your coffee, pj's or whatever and get the service on your car radio.  Then they have men and women who go car to car to give out bulletins, take up offering, and hand out communion.  One church in Nashville took over a bank building and open it on Saturday and Sunday to offer drive up prayers.   Another church has drive up confessionals, while another has drive up communion.  So what is missing?  You get every aspect of Religion but void of anything else.

With all these shortcuts, people are missing out on the most important part of community.  Relationships!    If you just "GO" to church for one hour each week are you developing a friendship that is there for you when you have a problem or tragedy?   

As I have said before, the Creator of the Universe is passionately in love with YOU and all He wants is a relationship with you.  The Old Testament is about the Religion and rules to have a relationship with God.  But Jesus came to give you that personal relationship - One on One.  It is in this personal relationship with no shortcuts that gives your life direction, success, and fulfillment.

You can try any shortcut to a relationship with God, but all shortcuts are missing the most important need in our lives. If you are feeling alone you should take the time to build a personal one on one time with this Creator and look for others who walk beside you each day.   You'll see that personal relationships are so much better than any shortcut.