Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [64] God will Draw Near

It's Always Two-Way

It takes two to tango, they say, because all human relationships are two-way. When two people make friends, the nearness of that friendship depends on both parties.

If only one party works hard, the relationship will never deepen. If one pulls away, the relationship will wither.

Is this true of our walk with the Lord?

To say "yes" might seem to lower a heavenly relationship to the level of a human one. Not every facet of our relationship with God has a human parallel. For one thing, our walk with the Lord is by faith and not by sight. For another, God's love for us is utterly constant and so even "if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself." (2 Timothy 2:13).

But here is one point of similarity: all relationships grow in proportion to how much we invest into them. Here is our wonderful promise for the day:

"Come near to God and he will come near to you." (James 4:8)

It's Possible to Know God Better

Scripture promises that we can grow in our knowledge of God and our closeness to God, "...He will come near to you."

Again, this parallels human relationships which can grow, develop and flourish.

Enoch, we read "walked with God." (Genesis 5:24) Abraham is called God's friend (James 2:23).

Wherever we are in our walk with God, we can know God better. Even the godliest saint can experience even greater heights of communion with God.

The Condition

But this is a conditional promise:

"Come near to God and he will come near to you." (James 4:8)

There is something we need to do, a very simple something. We must draw near to God, we must come near to God.

What does this mean? At the basic level, we are being encouraged to spend time with God; to invest time reading and meditating on his Word, praying to him, seeking to do his will, serving him and pursuing him. "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God." (Psalm 42:1).

Previous generations of Chrisians used the phrase "means of grace." The means of grace are the ways in which we grow in our walk with God. They include fellowship with other Christians, prayer, hearing God's Word, reading God's Word, communion, and so on.

A diligent and earnest use of the "means of Grace," they would say, will draw us closer to God. And in this they were surely right. The early Christians devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the teaching of Scripture, prayer, fellowship and communion (Acts 2:42).

Let us remember in lockdown that fellowship with other believers is one of the means of grace. We cannot grow closer to God without at the same time growing closer with our brothers and sisters! As we fellowship with one another we are encouraged and challenged, and our rough edges are sandpapered off too.

So let's keep up the phone calls and the zoom meetings and the texts and the emails and when we can, the one-to-one walks.

Summing it all Up

Just occasionally I hear a believer bemoaning their spiritual state or envying the close walk of another.

Well, here is a wonderful promise for all who feel afar off and for all who want to grow. Through the blood of Jesus, our relationship with God has been restored and we have peace with God. We have the Holy Spirit living within us. But we are not robots. God has made us with a will and he wants us to excercise our wills, our self-conscious activity to draw nearer and nearer to him.

And he makes a wonderful promise that as we do, he will draw near to us.

His heart is always warm towards his children, his hand always open to grasp our hands. He's waiting for you and I to make the move. And when we do he will come near to us.

A SONG FOR THE DAY

The song that immediately springs to mind is the hymn which expresses this desire to be closer to God.

Nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!
E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
still all my song shall be,
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
yet in my dreams I'd be
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

There let the way appear, steps unto heaven;
all that thou sendest me, in mercy given;
angels to beckon me
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

Then, with my waking thoughts bright with thy praise,
out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise;
so by my woes to be
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

Or if, on joyful wing cleaving the sky,
sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I fly,
still all my song shall be,
nearer, my God, to thee;
nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

Sarah Adams

You can hear it HERE.

A PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Our merciful Father in heaven,

We thank you that through your Son, you have opened up a new and living way into your presence.

Forgive us our sins for we know that they grieve your Spirit.

Help us to draw near to you today. Help us to spend time with you, time in your Word, time in prayer and time with your people.

Thank you for your promise to draw near to us.

In Jesus Name we pray these things,

Amen

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash