There is one key relationship that must be in place for you to thrive in everything you were created to in your daily work. Just one that needs to be right. One that needs to be maintained and one that needs to be nurtured. This one relationship will enable you to thrive in your other relationships.

It is your relationship with Jesus. Without it, you will never become all that you were created to become. You will never experience all that you were created and designed to experience. Knowing Jesus is the fundamental starting point of a thriving spiritual life. Its the Gospel. The Good News.

But once we start the relationship, it must be cultivated. Just as you would spend time to get to know a new friend.

This is the one relationship that feeds everything else. It feeds everything. Without it, you are like a water fountain that was designed to bring refreshment, but without being hooked up to a water source, it cannot refresh anything or anyone.

Just like the water fountain, we must be plugged in to our source of refreshment. We must stay close to Jesus if we want to have the life we were created and designed to have. That is where our real spiritual life starts.

We often try to solve problems on our own and when we are at a point of desperation, we finally think to ask God to intervene. Have you been there? I know I have. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can involve Him at every step of the way, long before the point of desperation.

I like to compare it to standing in the ocean near the beach. We can get hit by waves and keep taking a beating, wondering when it will stop. Our daily work can often feel that way. But if we have a surfboard in the ocean, we can stay on top of the waves and enjoy whatever comes at us. We don’t have to control the waves to enjoy the ride – we just need to stay on the surfboard. Waves can hit us all day at work, but if we are close to God, we can ride on top of them. We don’t need to control everything at work – we just need to stay close to Jesus.

Staying close to God makes it much easier to stay above circumstances. To have our mentality remain unaffected by whats going on in the whirlwind around us. Of course it is reasonable that God would set it up this way – for us to stay close to Him as our source to have sustained peace and joy. But just knowing that truth alone won’t get us there. The ONE relationship will.

I can tell you all about my wife and how amazing she is and how great it is to know her. But me telling you about her is not the same as you actually meeting her and talking to her. It is the same with Jesus. You must know Jesus personally – you can’t just know about Jesus. He is the one relationship that must be right.

With that relationship in place and being cultivated continually, you are ready to thrive spiritually in your daily work and all other areas of life. I want to encourage you to spend some time reflecting on this ONE relationship. Do you already know Jesus? Would you like to be closer to Him?

Just take a step toward Him. You don’t need to hit a home run every day. Make a small commitment and keep it. One step closer. Soon you will be partnering with Him in your daily work in a whole new way.