Distancing Ourselves from Love

In almost every aspect of life we are creating distance.  It's a disturbingly seamless progression.  The pendulum of modern convenience has swung wide.

• Processed foods are only food in the sense that we eat it.
• Online communication is not a substitute for company.
• We have more gadgets imaginable for containing babies.
• Children's lives are structured, scheduled from dawn to dusk.
• Many of us do not or cannot eat family meals.
• Together time is watching TV.

It's no surprise that we are distancing ourselves from the love of God, but the tendency to push God away is not new.  It did not start with separation of church and state or the supposed liberation of modern conveniences.  It is the state of being human and not divine that we lean on our crutches and vices instead of turning to God, looking to Him for our needs.

In Romans 1:20-25, Paul writes that since the world began we have refused God despite knowing Him.  "They have exchanged the truth of God for a lie."  This aspect of our humanity exchanges nourishment (physical, emotional, and spiritual) for the latest and greatest convenience.

In Luke 14, Jesus gives an example of how difficult it is for people to turn to God, using parable to demonstrate how most of us do not hear His call.

¹⁶ Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. ¹⁷ At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
¹⁸ “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
¹⁹ “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
²⁰ “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
²¹ “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
²² “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
²³ “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full."  Luke 14:16-23, www.biblegateway.com 

 Bible Tools online offers a compelling commentary on this passage, explaining that the upper class were invited but refused to attend; the word used was "come."  The spiritually poor and injured were invited more urgently; the word used was "bring."  Finally, those totally bereft were compelled to come.  Luke 14:15-24, www.bibletools.org

Those most bereft, most completely unloved, who would need God's love more than any other, were the only one's compelled to come.  The rest of us have to choose God's love, and we have to choose it over our worldly possessions and social constraints.  We have to choose to use the tools and conveniences of the modern world to enrich our lives rather than drain our life away.  We have to choose love above all else.