Boxes Pt. 1

Boxes. They come in all shapes and sizes. You can give almost any toy imaginable to a kid but give him a cardboard box, they'll be set for life. We use boxes for storage. But let's ask ourselves a deep question. Do we put God in a box? The answer more or less can be yes. You say how can that be? We all do from time after time. Israel struggled with the concept of keeping God confined in a box when all along He yearned for an intimate, deep relationship with them . Israel satiated themselves by building a big shiny box made of gold and silver,and marble. They thought that a nice curtain of seacow hide could conceal their best kept secret until Christ's death tore that curtain in half-(read the story!). The next question is why. Why do we confine God in a box in our lives, in our churches, and in our world? Pride and fear. Pride is that we don't want our own weaknesses and invulnerability to be seen by others-we want to fit in like everybody else-Israel did the same thing. Instead of being soley ruled by God, they instead sought to have a king like everybody else around them. Pride is wanting to elevate ourselves above everyone else because of a life lived with short self esteem and God esteem. Fear. We sometimes fear that if we allow God to inhabit our lives openly, He'll expose our darkest sins, our weaknesses. We would have to give up something we cherish or He may ask us to go to Africa or something of that matter.
Jesus had something to say about this. He told a parable of a man who had been given a talent to use so what do you think he did with it? He buried it. He hid it from the whole world. He thought he would be wise to confine it and not use it. He felt safe and secure. He ended up burning in hell for an eternity because he disobeyed God. When we try to put God in a box or confine Him to fit our little mold, we end up condemning ourselves. We miss out on one of the greatest journeys a person could ever embark upon- a intimate relationship with God because we are afraid to let go. Our churches lack the evidence and the intimacy of the presence of God because we want to feel safe in our emotions and attitudes. We don't want to go out on a limb so to speak. In church history however, It has tried to play it safe with religion-Israel tried to incorporate pagan worship with God-It failed-miserably. In the end, we put God in a box because we want to have control. People in church tend to want to have the final word in various matters because their faith don't match up to the Word.This requires faith and the willingness to completely surrender our whole lives to God. We must be completely vulnerable in His presecnce. The Word tells us that in His presence is - fullness and joy! You want peace and stability? Do you yearn for something more in your relationship with God? Then get Him out of your box and discover what it truly means to be in fellowship with Him.