Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be moved, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10)

When you meet a new friend, spending time together is the most exciting thing ever!

Whether it’s a romantic relationship or just a friendship, all you talk about is how great the other person is, what you’re going to do together next… All you can think about is when you’ll speak again…You’re probably very considerate…Maybe you hold the door open, offer to share lunch with them… You try your hardest to show that person how much you like them… You do these things because you really like that person…

After a while, even though you still like that friend, you think about them less. The little things you did in the beginning stop.

Those nice things like holding doors open and sharing lunches together stop. You start running out of things to talk about. You’d rather stay in and watch a movie all alone then to hang with that friend all the time. You figure your friend will always be there, so if you go through a time when you don’t talk to them every day its ok… It’s not that they aren’t your friend any more…

Relationships with friends are kind of like coasters… They go up and down… sometimes you’re best friends, sometimes just friends…Sometimes hardly even that! Ups and downs are just part of human relationships. There are times in our lives when we tolerate our friends, times when we appreciate them, and times when we treasure those people.

What are we… Crazy!? How could we push our friends out of our lives when they were once our best friends?Treasure your relationships

Don’t we go through this roller coaster ride with God, too? When we first get to know God and begin building a relationship with Him it’s all good. We pray constantly, change our lives, and try to listen to Him… We pay a lot of attention to God… But days go by, and sometimes it doesn’t seem like God is around… We don’t need Him… We get along just fine on our own. We tolerate God… We don’t really think much about our faith or our relationship. God will be there when we need him…

You know something though? Even though you might go through stages in your relationships, the memory of how great you felt when you were really close to those friends is what makes you call them… And it’s the same with God.

Think back to when you came back from a retreat, a Christian concert, a spectacular youth group meeting or church sermon… Remember the excitement you had for God? Even though some days you feel closer to God than others, it’s the memory of that excitement that gets you back on track with your relationship…

Today’s verse in Isaiah tells us that God’s love for us is constant and strong. He treasures us every minute of every day… Even when we’re feeling a little distant from Him. Hopefully you’re able to take your relationship from just tolerating God’s presence to really treasuring Him.

The memory of the exciting times will help you really focus on your relationship. Spend time today in prayer.. Worship the God who loves you. Continue building a strong relationship instead of just taking God for granted.

I guess the best question we can ask ourselves is, “Am I as close to God as I want to be and need to be. Am I as close as on the day of my salvation or have I drifted away.

Hopefully, We can all say, “I am closer to God everyday that I live and my desire is to stay close to Him.”

Jerry Caylor is the interim pastor at Brooks Memorial Baptist Church in Atmore.