Up Close and Personal
Bible Reading: James 4:7-10
Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. James 4:8
So what do you want to do to get even closer to God than you are now?
(a) climb in an SR-71 Blackbird spy aircraft and soar to 80,000 feet
(b) climb Mt. Everest
(c) have stilts permanently welded to your legs
Just kidding. Getting close to God has nothing to do with getting physically closer to the heavens. Your goal is to get closer relationally. That’s a great desire. In fact, just being interested in getting up close and personal with God is a step in the right direction.
Talk about it: What real attempts have you made to get close to God? What worked best? What didn’t?
When you want to get close to God, here are three biggies to try:
First, think straight about God. There’s not a shadow of doubt that God wants to be your incredibly close friend. Even more than you want to be near him, he wants to be near to you. So if you ever worry that God isn’t interested in you, whack those thoughts right out of your head. They aren’t from God. He loves you and will pull as close to you as you let him.
Second, spend time with God. That translates into the nitty-gritty activities of reading his Word and talking to him in prayer. So open his book. Tell him about your fears and hopes. Thank him for loving you and wanting to be your tight friend. Confess your sin and ask him to help you stay close to him by doing the things that please him.
Third, spend time with people who like to spend time with God. You pull close to God through worship—singing praises to God with other Christians, talking to him, thinking about him, remembering how much he loves you, recalling what Christ did for you, and gaining bonus insights into his Word by studying with other Christians.
Your key is found in James’s simple words: “Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you” (James 4:8). With every step you take toward God, he takes a giant stride toward you. You can’t get closer to God just by fitting a few “Christian” things into your life. But you can get closer to him by having a purpose-filled relationship with him and asking him to help you get to know him better!
TALK: How are you trying to get close to God? Does anything need to change?
PRAY: God, thanks that you want to be our incredibly close friend.
ACT: What one thing do you want to do today to draw close to God?