Familiarity and Entitlement

This morning I was reflecting on my relationship with Jesus… I was also thinking about the culture I live in and the new friendships I have made when this phrase popped into my head,

“I never want to become too familiar in worshipping Jesus that I miss out on the subtleties of His loving pursuit.”

I have found over the years that I have come to a place at times where I think I know what’s going to happen next, where I think I have the best opinion, or where I am familiar with what’s about to take place. In corporate worship settings I see this a lot- I have found myself expecting the music to go a certain way, for the message to come after the worship etc. and as a result I’ve almost become all too familiar, too comfortable and passive. Dare I say I have even seen areas where I am walking in entitlement? This makes me cringe. It makes me cringe seeing how disconnected I’ve become at times and how those around me have also followed suit. I see the “wonder” of being One with Jesus fading from my and people’s faces and hearts and hurts me.

It hurts me to see the wonder, the adventure, the awe of being a child of the most Perfect and Loving Father be seemingly lost in those around me.

Entitlement- man is this a nasty cancer where if left undetected and untreated can wreak havoc on a person’s spirit. Entitlement kills romance. It kills discovery and kills the thrill of being discovered. Entitlement robs us of intimacy, it robs us of whimsy and childlike faith and instead leaves us selfish and in many ways jaded and alone. Recently I have found myself walking in entitlement in certain areas and it downright ugly. I have found myself saying “but Jesus, don’t you realize?” “don’t I get___ for doing___? ” but the reality is – the only thing I am actually entitled to and deserving of is hell. Outside of Jesus and what HE paid for, I have nothing and am deserving of nothing.

I never want to become so familiar in worshipping Jesus, in my relationship with Him, that I miss out on the subtleties and the small and seemingly unnoticed nuances of His loving pursuit of me and the World. He is a romancer and is ever trying to reveal His loving heart to those who would let Him take the lead. I’m learning more and more to let Him lead- to surrender the control I think I have and in the process watch how faithful and fulfilling He truly is.

In this season where entitlement, passivity, tradition, selfishness, and familiarity are in full force I want to challenge us all to stay diligent! May we stay in a state of awe and wonder, of gratitude and thankfulness, of peace and joy, of whimsy and adventure and most of all in a place of devotion to Him who is worthy of it all!