Attachment to God must be permanent, which means that believers, in every circumstance, in every place, and at every moment, must remain in attachment to God. There must be no place or time in which a believer is not joined to God. Ultimately, this attachment becomes eternal, and this is what is truly called a covenant between God and His people. In the Old Testament, the term used is beriyth (בְּרִית), a key term that describes the relationship between Yahweh and Israel as His chosen people. The equivalent Greek term is diathēkē (διαθήκη).
A believer must not be attached to God only when they are in church; likewise, we must not feel detached from the world only when attending a worship service. To avoid being attached to the world, one does not need to abandon responsibilities outside the church—whether as a businessperson, medical professional, legal practitioner, politician, or otherwise. Some believe that to live in fellowship with God, one must leave secular work, attend church services every day, and, to be even more perfect, become a full-time church worker or pastor. This is a mistaken concept, similar to beliefs in certain religions that teach that to become a pious person, one must abandon the world, retreat to secluded places, and isolate oneself to unite with God. Such people then assume that they are holier than those who remain busy in daily activities outside the church.
In fact, when a person struggles through the real battles of life, that is when he can prove his love, faithfulness, and true piety toward God. Just as a person can only be called a great swimmer not by swimming in a pool, but in the midst of ocean waves. A husband proves his faithfulness not when there is no temptation, but when he has the opportunity to shift his affection to many beautiful women yet chooses to remain devoted to his own wife. Likewise, a person proves that he loves God above all things when he has an excellent opportunity to gain worldly pleasures—titles, power, fame, and honor—yet chooses God instead. It is at this point that one’s love for God is tested.
God allows believers to enjoy the world with its pleasures. However, a faithful believer will strive to choose to remain attached to God. In Luke 17, the Lord Jesus cites the story of Lot. He warns believers not to fail to receive His saving work simply because they love the world. Lot did not look back even though he lost all his possessions in Sodom. Lot obeyed God faithfully, but Lot’s wife did not. As God’s chosen people, we must be willing to engage in a “barter”: leaving the world to obtain the Kingdom of Heaven. We must dare to make this exchange, just as the people mentioned in the parables of Matthew 13:44-46 did. Bartering is a matter of the heart — an inner matter.
Does our heart truly no longer hope to find happiness in the world, or do we still depend on earthly things for our joy? If a person still expects happiness from this world, then he is not attaching himself to God. But if a person dares to leave the pleasures of the world because they desire only to enjoy God and His Kingdom, then they are building an eternal bond with God. May this become our commitment as we step into the new year.