Draw me closer.....

One main theme that we hear in sermons, homilys, worship songs and hymns is draw me closer Lord, draw me to you and let me dwelll in your presence. Come unto the Lord, draw unto Him, and He will draw to you. Come read, worship, and praise the mighty Lord, and you will find love, peace and joy in your heart.

Yet, this is not the easiest thing for us to do, we all have sin in us and have sinned against God. Yes, all have sinned, this includes you and me, the pastor in the local church, the priest at the local catherdal, the nuns who are hidden there in the convent and the deacon in the office down the hall. They all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. This makes us all sinners. Yet, it is often hard to think that those we look to for our spiritual guidance, who work, live and breathe to forward the love and word of God have sinned.  Although, they are human too and have needs, wants, and friends amoung us who wonder the church. They are no differnet the the rest of us in the Christian community other then they are called to a different minstry then the rest of us. They have a deep calling to fellowship, work for the Lord. They are there to help us, guide us to God in ways that we are may not see on our own. They are an ever present source of help when we are in need, we call then and they see us, counsel us and love us as children of the Lord and never ask for anything in return, other then a thanks as we walk out the door. They are the spiritual leaders in our churches and they are our friend in need.

They are all human, along with you and I, and we all have one common calling in our daily lives, one of drawing nearer to God. We are all to draw unto him and He will come to us if we ask Him. We are his children and he is not going to stay away from us if we ask Him to come. We are to draw near to one another in our time of need and in times of joy.  There is to be no lone soliders in the game of life, We are to have fellowship with each other and with the priests, pastors, nuns, and deacons of the church.

By drawing near to God, we ar then allowing ourselves to be open to God and what He wants for us as His children. We are able to grow in our faith in the Lord, and walk in the grace of the ever present Father.  It is in the drawing near to God that we are able to reach out and let go of hidden hurts, grief, and pain, because we have the love of the Father there with us able and willing to comfort us. Along with the Heavenly Father, we have those in the church that we can draw near too to help us along the path that we are walking.

This drawing of the Father will also allow us to come clean with God, get rid of the hidden dirt, the sins that no one knows about other then you. The things we are too ashamed of to ever speak of, those things that are well hidden in the past. We are able to let go of them and be washed completly in the Blood of Jesus. His blood can and will clease us if we are willing to let go, confess them, and allow ourselves to be forgiven by the Father. He loves us and wants to be so close to us, if we allow Him to come and draw near to Him, ask Him and He will be there with you.

Will you follow?

A friend called and invites you out, you go willingly. They call back and say the car is full now, and could you drive and follow them there, but wonders if you could stop and pick up two other friends. You comply and arrange to pick them up in enough time and get to where you are going in time. Yet when a friend calls and says come follow me we go, we trust and know them and if our safey is not in danger we will follow them and hang out with them because we love and care for them as our friends.  We arrange lunches, outtings, shopping spress and all sorts of activities without thinking twice with those that we know. We lead and follow our friends, and never really give it any thought.

Yet, if the Lord were to show up on your doorstep tomorrow morning, and said "Come follow me". Would you go freely, and willingly, or would it be "Lord, not now there is laundry to finish, lunch to make, towels to fold etc." We may respond with "Lord, I am not worthy, and you don't want me to follow you with all that I have done". We feel like we are not able to follow us God, with all that we have done in the past, and who I am you don't want me to tag along, I am not holy enough. Or better yet, you reply I don't go to church, let alone pray or any of those things. It is then that God reaches out to you once again with His out streached arms and says, "My child, come and follow me I love and forgive you of all that you have done." What do you do? Do you go, or are you still questioning your worthiness, His love, His concern for you.

Yet, in the Bible the disciple that went off to follow Jesus, were not the top scollars in the class. They were the poor, the misfits of society. They were no way worthy of God, His love or His teachings. They were willing to leave all and say Yes Lord I will follow you. Now, I know what you are thinking, I am not leaving my life to wonder the earth to follow God! That is not what He want you to do, rather He want you to walk with Him daily. He knows you are busy and yet says come and follow me, walk with me, talk to me and be with me, I want to fellowship with you. We tend to be hesitant with God, yuet if a firend were to call we would go willing ly, and say sure come on over, or I will be there in 10 minutes.

God, wants us to walk and follow Him. He longs for a relationship with Him. One that is more then a Sunday morning service weekly, or monthly. He longs for that daily communication. He wants to be there for us on a daily basis. All he asks for us to take time daily to walk with Him, He knows you are busy that is why is isn't asking for your entire day, just a few minutes, 10 to 15 a day. God wants to be there for you, if you let Him, He has a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, love that will never end, and blood that will cleanse us of all our sin. He looks for you to take the time to pray or talk to God, and part of prayer is listening, being still in the presence of God and allowing Him to talk to you, comfort and love you. He wants you to spend a few minutes in His word reading. If you don't know where to start, then try the New Testament, or a devotion that will not only give you some scripture readings, also some insight into the word of God.

Take the time, pick up the cross and walk with God, it will be the best relationship you will ever have in your life.