“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” — James 4:8
How much plainer can the Father make it clear to us all that He loves us and wants to walk with us? The other side to this is how we answer His call. Do we draw near? Do we keep Him at arms length? Why do we do either?
Bottom line is ‘in our court’ – what kind of relationship are we seeking to build? Just as in any relationship – it’s as you spend time with and get to know the other person you begin to build on what you know. Have you ever stopped a relationship from growing? Or been the recipient of another person’s stopping the relationship a kind of line in sand which says this far but no further? When you’ve been stopped, how does that make you feel? Let me use another analogy… have you ever loved someone but it isn’t reciprocated? Or maybe they’ve stopped spending time with you or whatever happened – there no longer is that closeness that once characterized your relationship.
You can see where I’m going – yes? Do we do this to our Triune God? Have we stopped growing together? But does God really want to be in relationship with His creation? Scripture says:
Revelation 3:20
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me.”Zephaniah 3:17
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by his love; He will exult over you with loud singing.”Matthew 11:28-29
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”John 3:16-17
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”Romans 5:8
“But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
And that is only a small smattering of verses that tell of the Lord’s desire to be in relationship with us. For me, John 3 and Romans 5 are the strongest statements about what God wants. And yes, it is always our choice. If we only turn to the Lord when we want something or are in crisis what message are we sending to Him? Is it – ‘I only want you when I want you’? It certainly sounds like that.
If you only turn to the Lord with your hand out, wanting or needing something, that’s a ‘user’ relationship. Do you really want to say that? You have so much waiting for you when you ask for and seek a deeper relationship… you will be astounded. All you really need do is to – draw near. He is always waiting for us to turn to Him, because of for just Him.
