Draw Near to God

Draw Near to God

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.   Hebrews 10:22 ESV

 The command we are given in this passage is to draw near to God. The great aim of the writer of Hebrews is that we would find personal intimacy with the Almighty. The great desire is that we would learn to have cherished fellowship with him.   The warning is that we guard against settling for a Christian life that would only see God at a distance.

This drawing near to God is not a physical act seen by our  physical achievements.  It's not necessarily going to a church building  in regular attendance.   Nor is it seen in walking to an altar in order that we might stand before the congregation. It is in fact an invisible act of our heart.

You can draw near to God while standing still, or while lying in a hospital bed, or on a train as you commute to work. Believe it or not it is quite possible to draw near to God while transporting your children to school in a car.

This is the center of the gospel. Jesus was drawing near to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane.    He was teaching us to do the same.   The most amazing and astonishing truth is that God has endured some costly things to make it possible for us to draw near to Him. 

The real reality is this:   He first drew near to us.   He sent His son to suffer and to die in order that we would respond and draw near.   All of this is for our joy and His glory.

He does not need us.   If we stay at a distance God is not impoverished,  his work is not empty,  and make no mistake it will continue.   God does not need us in order to be happy in the Fellowship of the Trinity.   He does not need us to advance his Gospel.    Instead, He magnifies His mercy by giving us free access through His son, in spite of our sin,  to the one reality that can satisfy as completely and forever, namely, himself.

Amazing is it not?   That even as you read this God's desire for used to draw near to him, and as you draw near to him, he will show you ways to serve Him, obey Him, and most of all glorify His great name!