When you think about God, in what terms do you think of Him? Is He all around you? Is He far away? Is He off in the far reaches of the universe? Or is He at your side? Is He the God of your mother and father? Or is He yours?

But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

1 Samuel 30:6b (ESV)

God is personal. He wants to be personal to you. He doesn’t just want to be the God of your parents. He wants to be your God.

David was known to be the man who chased after God’s heart.Was he without flaw? Goodness, no! David was just as faulty as the rest of us – if not more so. But if you read through the Psalms of David, there are countless lines where he calls out to “my God”. Unlike other accounts where God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, David makes God personal.

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.

Song of Solomon 6:3 (NKJV)

If God has seen fit to make us His, how much more should we make Him ours? In our imperfections, guilt, and shame, God still claims us. In his perfection and righteousness, why wouldn’t we want claim Him for ourselves? Why would we leave God to be the God of our ancestors rather than making Him our God.

Daily Bible reading: 1 Samuel 30-31; Luke 17:20-37