Relationship Is Everything

Good morning beautiful Divine Perspective Readers, I trust you had a fabulous weekend. Hope we’ve been enjoying the Character Series? Do endeavour to share posts with your friends and family as often as you can, let’s spread the word. We can only change our world one mind at a time. Today we will be considering the topic; Relationship Is Everything. We live in a world where so much emphasis is placed on ”valuables” at the expense of values. Our communal sense is fast eroding with every one paranoid about his neighbour’s goodwill towards him/her. Relationship is everything. Our salvation would never be possible without the Father-Son relationship between God and His only begotten Son. We would NEVER know how much we mean to God until we have an idea of how much Jesus meant to God. I looked at myself once in the mirror and asked, “what is it about me?” and God replied softly and said “Look at the cross son”. Every product is valued by the worth of what was exchanged for it, our true worth is found on the scale of balance that weighs the priceless blood of Jesus. If we have not realised that relationship is indeed everything, then we’re bound to make a wrong priority list about what really matters, we would inevitably major on the minor and minor on the major. Jesus yearns for a relationship with us, He did all He did so he could have a relationship with us. He weighed the option of spending eternity without us, and he couldn’t bear it, so he told himself, “I’d rather bear their sins and have them, than bear their absence”. We need to begin to put more worth on relationships than on things.

Judges 18:27(KJV) And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at QUIET AND SECURE: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire. 28 And THERE WAS NO DELIVERER, because it was far from Zidon, and THEY HAD NO BUSINESS WITH ANY MAN; and it was in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein.

We see here that the people of Laish were very quiet and secure people.
They had all they needed, they produced all they consumed and so didn’t have to go anywhere else to get anything, they were self dependent. They were quiet and secure… But they got destroyed. I thought all one needs in life to succeed was more and more wealth and security, but here we see that inspite of their prosperity they got destroyed. Bible also tells us the reason; because they had no business with any man. They had a lot of possessions but no relations. They had things but not the ones that really mattered. They thought they were self sufficient, not knowing they were brewing the perfect recipe for self destruction. They went into a valley, built a city and dwelt therein… alone. If you realise that you put more emphasis on materials and wealth more than you put on building strong relationships, then you need to have a paradigm shift. In the final analysis of every man’s testimony, what he or she would have left will be the relationships he/she built while around on earth. People don’t surround their beds with cars and property in their final days, they seek to have relationships around them. The people of Laish were short sighted, they were not meant to die like that. They were too foolish to think beyond the now and themselves. They didn’t give or lend to any nation, so no nation even heard of their distress. They didn’t have business with any man talk more any nation. God will most often send deliverance into your life through the already instituted relationships you have around you. So be careful how you manage these relationships, because they are key to you advancement in life. We find a very sharp contrast somewhere else… Here’s some wisdom for us;

2 Kings 4:3(EasyEnglish) Then (Elisha) said, ‘GO TO THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE NEAR YOU. Ask them all to lend you many pots. The pots (must be) empty. 4 Then go into (your house). Shut the door behind you and behind your sons. Pour (the oil that you have) into all those pots. When each (pot) is full, put it by your side.’…6 When all the pots were full, she said to her son, ‘Bring me another pot.’ But he said, ‘There are no more pots!’ Then there was no more oil to pour (into pots)

I’m sure we all know her story pretty well, her husband, a prophet had died and left a huge debt. She needed to pay the debt in order to save her son. Elisha looked at her and told her to do something really amazing. He told her to borrow pots. A pot is a very personal item in any household. I could lend anyone my broom, I wouldn’t need to know you to lend you my broom, but my pot? I’d have to really know you to lend you my pot. Elisha told her to leverage on her relationships to overcome financial crisis. Imagine she did not have neighbours like the people of Laish, and then now that she has, imagine she did not have a good relationship with them. She needed to have a good working relationship with all her neighbours for them to be able to give her their pots. Her wealth was ultimately limited by her relationships. When she said to her son, bring me yet another pot (relationship), the boy said there were no pots (relationships) left. However prophetic and powerful the instruction was, she couldn’t go beyond the limitation of her relationships. Mark my words… Ultimately, the things relationships will bring into your life, no wealth could possibly bring it. The wisdom here is simple; The people of Laish had “everything” but had no relationships and they died, this woman had practically nothing, but the prophet pointed her attention to what she still had, “relationships”, and then she didn’t just live off these relationships, she prospered by them. The cross typifies the way our Christian walk should be; the upright part pointing upwards talks about our relationship with God, while the one across it pointing sideways refers to our relationship with other people. Let’s stop indulging ourselves thinking it’s only our relationship with God that matters, enough of that and let’s grow up. Let’s cultivate quality relationships that are built on God’s Word. Don’t be given to betrayal, honour your commitment to people, believe in people, do not gossip about someone else, be kind hearted, love people genuinely, build a character that prioritises great relationships above great riches and see how the quality of your life will radically improve. Have a great week ahead. 🙂