My heart weighs a thousand pounds right now. God is really putting it on my heart to say this. So much so that I stopped what I was doing to do it. Nothing fancy, no pretty words, just what it is, which is ironic, because the book from which the verse comes from is exactly that. To the point. Shocker I know, James 4:8 and I love how the NLT puts it.
8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.
For me, most of my life has been a lie. A terrible existence of trying and not trusting. In an effort to win over the approval of God and those around me, I lost myself. I had an identity crisis. I didn't know who I was, or who I was supposed to be.
Listen, I can sit here and spit verses till I am blue in the face, but without true recognition of what He has done for me, it is in vain. When I think back to the darkest moments in my life, if I were to measure the distance between me and God, starting from where I was standing, the number is inconceivable. However, if I measure, from where God was to me, it's within arm's reach. He never left me. He was so faithful. Even when I spent my inheritence (more on this another day) that He had given me, that I had asked Him for, on the world and its troubles, He was still there.
Draw close to God. My worst moments were the ones where I was farthest from Him. We have to, have to, have to draw near to him. We can't have a foot in the world and a foot in the Lord. Imagine trying to ride two skateboards. A foot on each. At the beginning, it isn't so bad, however, as the paths of each skateboard begin to unfold, it is either, choose one skateboard and ride it with both feet, or lose balance and land flat on your face.
Draw close to Him. Sure the path is a narrow one, but it's the only one. All the other ones will take you nowhere. Trust me, I know...
He will be faithful, He will see His work through, He will not forget your work in His name...If you think what you are going through right now is bad, imagine how much worse it would be without Him near you....
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James 4:8 was the first Bible verse I ever memorized. I judge all Bible translations based on how well this verse is worded.
ReplyDeleteThanks for another great post! Not you Chris, I'm thanking Jesus.