Trending
When the mature Christian intends to be closer in their relationship with Christ, we face two realities: (1) we do not have an infinite amount of time in this physical world to get closer, and (2) everything of this world comes between God and us.
Everything takes time. Even thinking takes time. If we are in Christ, we are moving and living in the most pressing amount of speed, because Christ is the most dynamic person who ever walked on earth, and we want to follow Him. When he says, Follow Me (Matthew 8:22), He is not merely saying be kind and nice to others. He invites us to a fast-paced travel down the roads of our life.
And this travel has no security except the eternal security of living with Christ forever.
A life of faith is not one glorious mountaintop experience after another. It is a life of day-in-day-out consistency, a life of walking without fainting (Isaiah 40:31) over high roads, low roads, and boring, daily routine roads. Faith is a deliberate commitment to Jesus Christ, even when we cannot see the road ahead.
Knowing that we do not have an infinite amount of time in these bodies, that each of us has only so much energy and time on this earth, it is up to us, individually, to make daily decisions about how to spend our time.
Living with Christ does not mean excluding the world, though. God gives us the world. We are called to love God's gifts. But, think about it, do we love the gifts of God instead of God Himself?
Are we addicted to work and activity as to a drug? We are in serious trouble then, for that means we do not love God as much as we love whatever else we are doing. Even our best moments are not God, they are simply moments. Do we worship happy moments instead of God?
God is God, closer than the skin on our bodies. He deserves some time whereby we pray, study His Word, get to know Him. He is at the very center of all our activities. Without Our Lord God, we cannot see the end purpose of our existence.
As for the idea of being in constant fellowship with our Lord God, there is no mystical method to prayer. If we can talk to a friend, we can talk to God. He is our best friend. He is our Father, our creator.
And through His Holy Spirit, God is omnipotent (all-powerful) omnipresent (ever-present).
God is there when we are scrubbing the toilets. He is with us when we are knee-deep in laundry at 10 pm before going to bed, or sitting in a doctor's office, wondering about the questionable pain or lump. He is there, even when we do not feel Him. He never leaves us when we invite Him to be with us.
Everything in this world is between God and the human self. Every individual has the ability to enter into a life of oneness with God through believing in Jesus Christ. But it is not a one-time-activity that we pass right through. It is one where we abide (live) in the life that is found by faith in Christ.
Until we genuinely believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, we each have goals of our own to serve.
The mysterious change that comes with our devotion to the Lord is that we no longer are living for ourselves, but we live to honor and please our Lord God.
Are we taking some time every day to purposely become closer with our Lord? Or is our very life pushing us out of the presence of God?