By Reagan Long

One of the most powerful images in Scripture, aside from Jesus on the cross, is the veil torn at His death. Now this wasn’t some mere window sham, but a 60-foot high, 4-inch thick veil that hung in the holy temple of Jerusalem and separated the Holy of Holies – God’s early dwelling place – from everyone else.

When Jesus died, the veil was torn in two, from top to bottom. Because of His sacrificial death, there is no longer a need for separation between God and man. We can now be unified and have a relationship with the Creator of the universe, who also happens to be the lover of our souls.

You may have heard the phrase, “Christianity isn’t a religion; it’s a relationship.” Now I could be wrong, but hearing someone else talk about another person once a week, or reading something about them every now and then doesn’t really make a relationship with said person (aka attending church on Sundays or reading that cool article someone shared on Facebook).

A relationship is consistent, personal, and mutual.

Meeting daily with the Lord is something I try to place as a priority in my life. Am I actually that consistent? Not by a long shot – there are those weeks when life hits me with a sledgehammer. However, I am without a valid excuse. Jesus himself made it a habit to withdraw to isolated places early in the day and pray. Sometimes it was even still dark (Mark 1:35). Jesus, fully God but also fully man, knew that he needed to spend time with his Father. For “the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise” (John 5:19).

We can’t fulfill our mission as Christians if we don’t know what God is doing.

And we know what God’s doing by spending time with Him, growing the relationship to better hear His voice. It starts by reading His Word. We have at our fingertips a whole collection of things He’s said, how He’s spoken to people, how He responded to situations, and what He’s asked of people.

The Word also teaches us how we can respond to and worship God. Psalms, for example, is full of exclamations of the character of God that I, with just my life experiences, would never have considered on my own.

Starting a habit of spending time with God can feel painful at first; squeezing another thing into an already busy schedule can take an act of God as it is. But pushing on and meeting with the Lord even when I don’t feel like it is the best way to get to a place where I feel like it. By knowing God’s voice and character, we are able to not only walk in what He has for us, but also to desire to.