Our personal relationships with others can enrich our lives and make them more enjoyable. Spending time with those we care about means a great deal to us. However, many people fail to realize the importance of a relationship with Jesus Christ. Being in His presence reveals just how much He loves us, and adds joy to our lives that no other person can bring.

Religion tells us that a personal relationship with Christ isn’t enough for salvation, and that we must add something to it by performing good works. This is wrong-thinking. If we’ve been born again, we have become God’s children, with whom He wants constant companionship. However, without Him, we’re nothing. “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser… You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing”(John 15:1, 3-5, NKJV).

We’re saved by God’s grace, not by anything we do. Our salvation doesn’t depend on our behavior, and we don’t become “unsaved” if we don’t bear fruit right away. Most churches are still teaching Old-Testament law, which says we must do something in an attempt to guarantee our redemption in case grace alone doesn’t work. Jesus, and Jesus alone, is quite enough. “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me”(2 Corinthians 12:9).

One component of a successful relationship is frequent communication. When we have regular conversations with our heavenly Father, we learn that we’re worthy to stand in His presence only because of what Christ did on the cross. In the Old Testament, sin was a barrier between God and man. Jesus’ blood sacrifice changed that. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus will never abandon us when we face adversity, challenges, or hardship. He instead bears us up and gives us the strength to persevere. Absolutely nothing can separate us from His love and the commitment He has made to us. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35, 38, 39).

There are plenty of things in the world we can seek after, and many opportunities to establish relationships with anyone we choose, but there’s no substitute for a relationship with Jesus. He wants to complete us like no one else can by getting involved with every aspect of our lives. “…Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD! Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore!” (1 Chronicles 16:10, 11, NKJV). He’s all we’ll ever need.

For more on establishing a relationship with God, click on the link below for the three-message series, Knowing God.