We all have someone who expects something of us, don’t we?  I would like to ask you to be aware of your emotions as we mention each of the following relationships and their expectations:  parents, husband or wife, your children, siblings, in-laws, close relatives, distant relatives, church family, church leaders, teachers, friends, co-workers, neighbors, bosses, business associates, and acquaintances.  In each of these there is a different emotional response due to our past relationships, is there not?

            Now, let me ask you to check your emotional response to the mention of God the Father, Jesus our Savior, and the Holy Spirit.  What kind of response do you have to God?

           After a week of prayer it is my desire that all of us become more aware of the relationship we have to God and the expectations He has of us. 

            After Jesus fasted and prayed …

Matthew 4
11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

           After Jesus had fasted and prayed there was a two-fold response, first Satan tempted Him severely and second the angels came and ministered to Him.  Perhaps you have experienced one or the other … perhaps both.  If both, you are in good company!

            One of the thoughts which came to me as the week progressed was along the lines of expectations.  My parents had high expectations of me!  My wife has some very specific expectations of me.  A lot of people have expectations of me.  Even my cats have expectations of me!  But most importantly do I know what God expects of me?

            I read a devotional by Charles Stanley about setting goals, setting time-tables, and being accountable.  After reading the article I thought to myself that I have never met the man and even he had expectations of me!

           As I prayed about life’s expectations the thought came to me that God’s choosing of me, and His choosing of you, had nothing to do with our abilities, our gifts or talents, what we could do for God, or what we might accomplish in life.  As God turned His attention to the Gentiles, He spoke through Hosea the prophet:

Hosea 2:23
23 I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, and I will say to those who were not My people, 'You are My people!' And they will say, 'You are my God!'"

            None of us have been chosen by God because we had anything to offer that He needed.  He chose to love us when we were unlovely.  He chose to grace us with His forgiveness when we didn’t ask for forgiveness.  He called us to Himself because He had something to offer us, not that we had anything to offer Him. 

            So what are God’s expectations of us?

            The first and most important expectation that God has of us is a heartfelt relationship.  When He created Adam and Eve, He apparently delighted in visiting with them in the Garden during the cool of the day.  His desire was for conversation, friendship, and a loving relationship.  He wants us to be His and to allow Him to be our friend.

             It may sound rather simplistic that God’s greatest expectation of you and me is our friendship, but listen to the words of Jesus as He prayed for our relationship to the Father:

John 17:3

3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 

11 Holy Father, keep them in Your name … that they may be one even as We are. 

17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 

22-23 "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them … so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 

24 "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 

26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

            This final prayer that Jesus prayed didn’t major on making us into an army of witnesses, a school of teachers, a platoon of prayer warriors, or an organization of helpers.  Jesus asked the Father that we would experience His love and know how to love one another.  When we are a friend of God’s … all the other “stuff” flows out of our love relationship!

            Jesus wants us to know the Father, be kept by the Father, be sanctified by the Father, be filled with the glory of the Father, and someday be present with the Father in Heaven.  This is accomplished by having the love of the Father in us!  He wants us to love and be loved!

            Another way of saying this perhaps is that God is more concerned our “being” than our “doing.”  Don’t get me wrong.  There is plenty in the Bible about our doing things … but what we do for Jesus is secondary to who we are in Jesus.  Until we get our relationship right the rest of it doesn’t matter.

            Most of the problems we face in our spiritual life are not centered on what we do but who we are.  And who we are is focused entirely on our loving relationship with our best friend … Jesus.  We can easily adjust the physical presentation of who we are:  we attend church, we say the right words, we give in the offering, we sing Christian songs; but that isn’t a real representation of who we are!

            So let me ask you … how are you doing with your relationship with God the Father, with Jesus our Savior, and with the Holy Spirit?  Do you ever feel like you aren’t doing enough?  Not holy enough?  Not committed enough?  How about starting with letting God love you, forgive you, and embrace you?  Respond to His love.  Love Him back!  Tell Him, sing to Him, worship Him, and embrace Him!

            We have all been mystified by the response of Jesus to the complaint of Martha when Mary chose to listen to Jesus instead of helping in the kitchen.  Jesus said,

Luke 10

41 … "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 
42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

            The one thing that is necessary is to be a friend with Jesus.  Sit at His feet, listen to Him, ask Him questions, and tell Him what is in your heart.  There will always be dinners to prepare and dishes to wash … and if we don’t do them now they will still be waiting for us when we get back to the kitchen … but spending time with Jesus is high priority!  Its premium time!

            We will never get away from dinners and dishes, but it is easy to get away from Jesus.

            What about those expectations?  We still have parents, spouses, children, family members, in-laws, church family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, bosses, and acquaintances.  Are you allowing their expectations to run your life or are you allowing the expectations of Jesus to run your life?

             It time we check … not what we are doing, but who we are.  Let Jesus love you, and love Him in return.