Letting Go: Finding Relationship with Christ

Lately, I have been thinking about and hearing Christ speak to me about his disciples. I have been admiring and reflecting on how Christ accepted them and invited them into relationship just the way they were. I think of how the first disciples were mere fishermen. Fishermen today are a tough bunch of guys, they talk tough, drink hard and work harder. They are hard men making a tough living. These are not typically the kind of guys you would find in our churches today. I also think about Luke, a tax collector. He, too, was called to follow Jesus just as he was. The tax collector image today doesn’t have nearly the negative connotation that it did in Jesus’ day. It seems that ambulance chasing lawyers are a better picture of how the tax collectors were thought of. Jesus didn’t ask these guys to take inventory of the sin in their lives and then pray the sinner’s prayer before allowing them into relationship. He simply said, “Follow me.” In other words, live with me and I will show you how rich life can be. It was through a relationship with Jesus, spending time with him and listening to him speak that the disciples came to be the great men of faith that we know them as.

This revelation has challenged me to look at the way I approach my walk with Christ. Until recently, I have been treating my relationship with Christ like a list of do’s and don’ts. I have been caught up in trying to be close to Christ through forcing prayer time and forcing reading time. I have attempted to live up to an expectation for my walk with Christ. I only recently have given up those expectations of what a “good” or “healthy” Christianity looks like. I have resolved to simply have a relationship with Christ. I have resolved to simply talk with him, have him lead me and have him show me and tell me what he wants me to hear. This has made all the difference in my life. I have felt an amazing sense of relief; a freedom to be who I am in the presence of Jesus. The intimacy I have with Christ has increased tenfold.

The amazing and mildly ironic thing about all of this is that I have reached this point of relationship by letting go of expectations rather than accepting them. It has only been the act of letting go of my expectations of what a healthy relationship with Christ looks like that I actually reached a healthy relationship with Christ. I now look forward to getting up early enough to have an hour of alone time with Christ. I feel like I can’t stop reading the Bible or books about Jesus. I have found this to be refreshing and embarrassingly simple. I challenge you to let go. Let go of your expectations and ideas of what a “healthy” relationship with Christ is supposed to look like. Let go and simply follow him. Stop talking… listen… hear from him.