Beyond Obedience- Deepening your Relationship with God
Sep 30, 2026I have seen a lot of articles and talks on AI and the benefits and advancements over the last few years. But the most surprising one by far was an article detailing the number of men who thought they would prefer to have an AI wife then a real one. I’ve really wrestled with that concept, but was initially unsure how to describe why it made me so uncomfortable.
Then someone at church asked me, "How would God describe you in this season?" The first word that came to mind was obedient. I left a job that wasn't going anywhere because He told me to. I'm still waiting on His plan for my own house. I wrote a book instead of sitting around worrying and recovering all year.
But is mindless obedience really the goal? Do I exist only to be available for tasks when God asks for them, or is our relationship actually meant to be more than that?
In studying Scripture, it’s very clear that our goal isn’t to just do things blindly, but to check in and ask ourselves where our hearts are in the midst of our actions. God doesn’t want us to be compliant robots as much as He wants to know us. But truly knowing someone means letting in not just the beautiful, perfect parts, but also letting in and sharing the broken, imperfect, and sometimes harsh parts of us as well. A robot wife doesn’t have anything to offer of frailty, hopelessness, and need, because she is simply built to serve, not be honest.
Faith Is Not a Vending Machine
The other random social media post I saw this week concerned quiet time with God. It said it was basically worthless and we needed to stop blindly doing it for no reason. I didn’t read the article, but think the goal was to make sure that we keep from making something that we do regularly like time reading our Bible just boring and mundane.
We too often act like our Christian faith is a vending machine. Insert prayer, get out response. Insert quiet time, pull out happy energy and endless love. Inset time at church, get out anything I need this particular week. But my real relationships don't work that way. Sometimes I call my mom to complain, and I end up listening to her complain about something even more annoying. Sometimes I expect my friends to take my side, and they gently call me out instead. Those surprises aren't always what I wanted, but they're what make the relationship real. And how pointless would it feel if all we ever did was feed each other lines to repeat back?
Try Mixing It Up
Variety helps in every part of life. We mix up our exercise routine so we don’t hurt ourselves. We mix up our eating so we get new nutrients and joy from the experience. Sometimes we need to mix up our quiet time with God so it doesn’t become just a blanket thing we do in obedience.
- Instead of giving the same twenty minutes every morning, try an hour-long reading session one evening a week
- Spend your lunch time eating and chatting with God.
- Spend your entire quiet time in just prayer, just worship, or just reading the Bible.
- Listen to a sermon series for a few weeks and stand on someone else’s faith.
- Draw or write your feelings or the picture after a scripture reading.
Just as we mix up our time with our friends and family and occasionally do something random to keep things interesting, we should mix our interactions with God to get to know Him on a deeper level. That’s what keeps us from becoming mindless drones and turning routine into a real and lasting relationship with Him.
What Jesus Modeled
Read Mark 1:32-38. Jesus was in the middle of good, important work, and He stopped to be with His Father. He set aside a time, a place, and a plan, rather than working endlessly. We can do the same, and we don't have to do it perfectly.
This week, which small change could make your time with God feel less like a task and more like a conversation with a friend?
If you would like another way to change things up, download my free devotional and change up this week for your quiet time.