Drawing Near To God
“But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works.” Psalm 73:28
Is it possible to draw near to God, and Him to draw near to us? What does it mean to do so?
After the resurrection of Christ, indeed the next day, two of His disciples were traveling from Jerusalem to Emmaus, a distance of about seven miles. “Jesus Himself drew near and went with them,” (Luke 24:15) but they did not recognize Him. They explained to Jesus what had just occurred in Jerusalem where Christ had been judged, put to death, and now declared by certain of their fellow disciples to be risen from the dead. It is in this nearness to Jesus as they walked and talked that Jesus admonishes them for their slowness of heart to believe all that the prophets had spoken concerning Him, how that He would suffer, but then enter into the glory of His Father. As they walked on Jesus expounded to them in “all the Scriptures concerning Himself.” At the invitation of the disciples, Jesus joined them for supper. It was at the table, after Jesus had taken the bread, broke and blessed it, and gave it to them, that “…their eyes were opened, and they knew Him.” He then vanished from their sight. That which is most remarkable about this event was the nearness of God to these disciples, and for a time, they did not know how close He was. It was only when their eyes were opened that they recognized Him. However, they would say after Jesus had disappeared: “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” (Lk. 24:32) The proximity, or nearness of Christ to these His disciples was not just the appearance, and recognition of His Person, but the effect of His words, power, and love, which they experienced when He talked with them, opening the meaning of the Scriptures to them. That burning in their hearts was the result of God’s nearness to them. Christ by His Spirit was speaking to their hearts in such a way that they were gripped by the power and living quality of them.
In the book of Jeremiah, we find a similar declaration concerning the “nearness” of God, revealed by the word of God producing a certain effect in his heart. Jeremiah wrote: “But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.” (20:9) Here is the Lord’s prophet, about six hundred years before the disciples of Emmaus talked with Jesus on that eventful day, declaring just how close, or near, God was to him. The effect of His presence, because of the living, powerful quality of Christ’s words, burned in his heart, or as he put it, “in my bones.” This was the same fire that came upon the disciples at Pentecost, certainly with the same burning quality of conviction, assurance, peace, and goodness, that the Spirit of God communicates to those who would draw nigh to God, with the promise, that He will in turn draw near to them. The amazing thing is that the initial “drawing,” or attracting the soul to Christ, comes from Heaven, from the Spirit of God. The Lord Jesus had said to the disciples before His death and resurrection, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…” (Jn. 6:44) The work of drawing us near to God begins with the Father Himself. Is this not encouraging to the believer to realize that as Jesus, by His words was drawing the disciples of Emmaus to Him, so He does so today by putting in the hearts of individuals who are seeking Him in His word, that burning, that yearning after Him, to know Him and to know Him well?
Scripture declares: “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8)
Dear Father, Bring us to Yourself. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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