I grew up in Cocoa, about fifty miles from where I now live in the Orlando area. It’s close enough to go to the beach or to visit friends, but too far to go all the time. Each time we visit, I notice that the sky is bluer, the air is clearer, and the living is easier than in Orlando. It’s an observation my wife, Vickie, has heard many times.
Last week our family went to the Keys with a group of my high school friends and their families. The first leg of the trip was to Cocoa from Orlando; then south on I-95 to Florida’s Turnpike. As we drove south past Ft Lauderdale, then Miami, I began my usual conversation with Vickie. This time, in addition to my usual observations, I told Vickie that the sky somehow even looked bigger.
After years of listening and smiling kindly, Vickie looked at me and said, “Do you think it might have something to do with the fact that you’re leaving work, responsibilities, and obligations behind?” Honestly, that had never occurred to me, but obviously she’s right.
Orlando’s a great place to live. I’ve got lots of good friends and a job I love. But to be relieved of responsibilities just gives you a different perspective. That’s what God wants for us.
If your relationship with God is full of obligation and measured by what you do or how you perform, you might want to reevaluate. If going to God feels like going to work, please rethink God.
But if going to God feels like going home to freedom, if it feels like going to the Keys with old friends under a bigger, bluer sky, then you’re getting a taste of the relationship God wants to have with you.
John Monday
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