Can we just be friends?

A couple weeks ago I wrote this post about how I felt about the beginning of my relationship with GOD. And that train of thought has kind of been continuing in my mind since then.

After the honeymoon stage I had with Him I realized that there were some things He actually expected of me. I realized that the sparks and emotional highs were happening less often. My relationship with Him started feeling stale and everyday instead of magical and mysterious.

So I slipped into the pattern of seeing and referring to GOD as being my "Best Friend." GOD and I became buddies. And to be honest, I was a very fair weather friend. I called on Him when I felt like hanging out, but I rarely (if ever) answered His calls.

And then I started (metaphorically, of course) seeing other people...their names were Pride, Movies, Novels, Greed, Selfishness, Coffee, New Clothes, Insecurity, Homework, Boys (Haha that's ironic!), Facebook, and Money. They were the ones consuming all of my time, thoughts, energy, and desires.

So GOD and I slipped into this pattern of seeing each other on Sundays, but not really communicating throughout the week. And on Sundays things were strained...I mean, I knew that I was using GOD to get what I wanted and I felt badly about it, but I really didn't want to stop.

Even though I had made a covenant with the LORD that was as equally binding as marriage I still found myself wanting Him for just a friend so that I could have all the other stuff in my life that I liked. I clung to things that really didn't satisfy me at all.

Now that I've written all that in the past tense, I see that it's really not in the past. Even though I intended to write a post about how I was when I was 16.

I guess that's because I still fight the urge to "Just be friends" with GOD.

But that's not what He wants. He wants ALL of me. He wants MORE of my time, MORE of my thoughts, MORE of my attention, MORE of my energy than I would give to a friend. He wants to love me and cherish me and protect me and provide for me in ways that a friend never could. He's not okay with just being friends. And as my economics professor said the other day, "There's no better place to be than in the center of Christ's will."