What God Wants

I’ve met a lot of people throughout my life who want to please, follow, or in other ways give glory to God.  The problem for all of us who fall in this category is simply this: What does that look like?  What does God want?

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 NIV)

I’ve mentioned before that I grew up in a church context where I was encouraged to learn the right doctrines, creeds, and ways of participating in church services.  I was never really encouraged to read the Bible, investigate on my own, or learn what Scripture said.  When I started reading and learning, I found out that God has a picture for my life.  God put everything together in such a way that I could learn God’s design from all of creation as well as the Scriptures.

Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7 NIV)

When I started attending a church where the Bible was taught, I learned something new about God as well.  God wants a relationship with me.  Not only does God want a relationship with me, He wants a relationship with you as well.  God is not impersonal or far off.  In fact, God has always been reaching out to you and me.  This was a part of God’s plan from before the beginning of creation.  Luke said it this way:

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. (Acts 17:24-27 NIV)

What does God want?  He wants to walk with me.  He wants to talk with me.  He wants to let me get to know Him, myself, and the world He created for me.  He wants this for you, too.  God has always wanted us to seek Him, reach out for Him, and find Him, even though He was there all along.

How about you?  Do you want to walk with God?