You.

He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Matthew 22 32 everybody wants to be God's friend when they die. But being God's friend while we're still alive and kicking is quite another matter for many people. When not thinking about the end of life on earth, people don't seem to be so interested in God, or even aware of him for that matter. But let them be injured in an accident or diagnosed with cancer or have problems in their marriages, and then they start praying to God for help. It's actually pretty rude when you stop to think about it. A lot of people treat God like a genie in a bottle, keeping him hidden away until they're facing problems or death, and only then do they give him a call and beg for his help. Hey, God, we sure do want to have a relationship with you when we're in trouble. And we sure want to be on good terms with you when death comes knocking at our door. But please don't call us. We'll call you when we need you, and not 1 minute before we need you either. Well, folks, here's a newsflash. God is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living. He doesn't want us to wait for times of stress and duress to call on him. He doesn't want us to be his friend only in painful times when life is threatened or when death looms. He doesn't want us to acknowledge him only at thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter. No, God wants us to honor him and love him and serve him and be friends with him every day of every year. And guess what? If we're not going to let him be our God when we're alive in this earth, what makes us think that he will be our God when we're not? What we think of him and do with him today while we're alive determines where we're going to be spending time tomorrow when we're not.

This has been your thought for the day with Steve Burkham, pastor of community Christian Church in Stockton, California. If you have questions or comments for Pastor Steve, please send them to [email protected]. Have a great day, and we hope you'll join us tomorrow as Pastor Steve opens God's word to bring us another thought for the day.