How Close Are You?
How often have you heard a statement that “stopped you in your tracks” and really caused you to think? Please allow me to share with you one such statement that had that impact on me.
The statement was only one sentence in a sermon delivered by a preacher, but the impact was so strong that I still remember it years after I heard it. It was also strong enough to make me forget everything else that was said during that sermon.
Here, in its entirety is that statement:
“You, at this very moment, are as close to God as you have chosen to be.”
Could that possibly be true? Is it not the case that most of us think that we would be a lot closer to God if one or more of the following would be the case?
- I was a part of a better church
- My spouse treated me differently
- My job was more rewarding and my boss treated me differently
- I wasn’t so busy
- My family didn’t demand so much of my time
- I had a better education
- I could manage my time more efficiently
- I was younger (or older)
- I could correct some of my own personality issues
- All of the other Christians around me truly acted like Christians
- The society in which I live would be more accepting of God’s standards
The list could go on and on, but you get the point. Often, we sense a distance between ourselves and God, but we look everywhere except within ourselves for the solution. We might even blame God for the distance.
Maybe all of us need to consider just the following two verses from the Bible:
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
(Hebrews 11:6, KJV, emphasis added)
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you…
(James 4:8, ESV)
It looks to me like we are, in fact, as close to God right now as we want to be. I cannot blame any distance on anybody else, on circumstances, or even on God.
I will leave it up to those who may read what I’m writing to make whatever application they believe is necessary. I think that my time might be spent profitably by going to the nearest mirror and asking the guy I see,
“How close are you?”
To Receive Every Article from A Legacy of Faith through Email for Free, Click Here
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
