VERY often I pass church, temple or
mosque and see crowds outside. Ini
tially I used to think that God must be so pleased to have so many worshipping him, till I realized very few came to worship, most came to barter, “God, please give me a promotion, and I will give you my whole month’s salary!” or “I will come to church every Sunday!” or “I will give up smoking or drinking!”
Says writer Ben Edwards, ‘We’ve all heard it, and most of us have either thought it, or even prayed it.” “God, if You do this thing I currently want, then I’ll do something I probably should do but haven’t.” And that’s how the world works; people want something in return for something done or given. People don’t just give away favors. They want something in return. So we begin to barter with others when we are seeking their favors.
We started doing this when we were young, trading our veg sandwiches for our friend’s non-veg. The other person has something we want—either an item or the ability to accomplish something, so we offer him something we think he wants.
In our society the most common bartering item is money—you give me something and I give you money in exchange. But we occasionally offer other goods or services, housing and food in exchange for a full time maid; use of vehicles in exchange for professional work, etc. In each situation, the offer is successful only if both parties have something the other lacks or needs.
But there’s a problem when we try to do business with God. God doesn’t lack or need anything! The truth that God does not need anything is part of a larger truth of God’s self-sufficiency. This means that God’s existence comes from Himself, thus He is not dependent on anyone or anything else.
You are wasting your time bartering with Him. And if you did get something you asked for, it is because of God’s grace and love for you and not for anything you promised in return. So, what does God want? He wants you to have a change of heart. He wants you to become pure like He is. He wants you to give up the things that make Him sad.
And I believe God is sad today: He is sad seeing people using religion to get votes! He is sad seeing men and women fighting each other in His name! He is sad because of political leaders who use His name to hit at others! And I believe, that this scary time, is being allowed by a God above for a change of heart from His people!
So, if you think, that by continuing to make deals, you will win His favour, do think again. God needs a change, a parivarthan in your life, not a bartering, business, trade off arrangement..!
