Draw Near To God

Draw Near To God

James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded”

The word “draw” in this verse means to “prefer, to choose”. It is our choice to draw near to God or not. The book of James was written to Christians, and yet he is telling them to cleanse their hands and purify their hearts. The choice was up to them as it is also up to us.

The book of the Song of Solomon is a beautiful illustration of a Christian’s progressive development in their relationship with Jesus Christ. We can stay where God found us in the first place. Or we can choose to go on in our walk, our relationship with the Lord. Song of Solomon- 1:4 “Draw me away! We will run after you. The king has brought me into his chambers…” The bride’s first response was to ask to be drawn away by the Beloved. Then she committed her entire being to Him. She made a covenant with Him that if He drew her, she would follow in a covenant relationship. The result was that the King- her Beloved- took her into His chambers. It shows a pattern for what each Christian should desire. There is an initial drawing of the Lord towards us at salvation. Christ said in John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father, who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”  This is a work by the Holy Spirit. We cannot come to Christ on our own initially. But after salvation, there are many times that we chose to draw near to the Lord. In fact- we must draw nearer and nearer to Him all the time.

In any relationship it takes time to learn to know each other. The same is true with our relationship to the Lord. Sad to say, many Christians are content in their first encounter with the Lord and they stop growing and learning about Him. They are blessed and seem to lead an uneventful life. But there comes a time when each Christian is faced with a decision- to stay where they are—in their little comfort zone—or to venture further out into the deep- into the deep riches of Christ Himself. We must ask the Lord to create a hunger inside of us and then respond to that hunger by committing or covenanting- I like that word—with the Lord to have a fuller and deeper relationship with Him.

There may be things that keep us from pursuing the Lord. There may be walls that have been built up that become obstacles from going further with the Lord. Song of Solomon 2:9 “…behold he stands behind our wall; he is looking through the windows, gazing through the lattice.” Some of these walls could be fears, depression, guilt, past failures, worries. It could also be good things- our mountain top experiences, our victories. Instead of moving on from these, we make camp and never go any further. I am not satisified with seeing Jesus through the window or lattice or have Him behind some wall. There are heights and depths of the knowledge of God that we haven’t even tapped yet! There is so much more! 

In these days- days of fear and darkness, the unknown- every Christian should be endeavoring to move on with the Lord. We need His Presence to lead and guide us even more than the Hebrews in the wilderness. Things are coming upon the world that no book or man has an answer for. We need to have that deep intimate relationship- covenant- with the Lord so that His Presence will surround us to the point that the things of the world will have nothing in us. Jesus said we were in the world but not of the world. (John 17: 14-16). I believe this applies to the unrighteousness and ungodliness of so many in the world today. God is requiring us to be different, to be set apart, separate unto Him. This is true holiness. God is asking us to seek His face, to seek a deep hunger and thirst for His Presence, His righteousness in us so that we can be that witness and light to a dark world.

Ask Him to place inside of you a hunger for more of Him. And then covenant with Him that you will give into that hunger and follow (run) after Him with your whole being. He will never disappoint those who truly want more of Him. Psalm 145:18 "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth." 

 

Part of Paul’s prayer for the church was this:

Ephesians 3:17-21 “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever, Amen.”