Draw Near

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8a). Did you know that your relationship with God is based on the work you are willing to put into it? James made this very clear by stating that we must draw near to God if we want God to draw near to us. However, it is essential to understand that drawing near to God doesn’t mean testing or trying God to see if He is there. Jeremiah made this very clear when he quoted God, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13). If we want to have a relationship with God that is purposeful, meaningful, and real – we must take the first step and draw near to Him.

James 4:8 doesn’t end with God drawing near to you. James goes on to say, “Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” It is important to understand who we are drawing near to. God isn’t the queen of England, the President of the United States, or any other important figure. God is God. He is Yahweh. He is the Creator of the universe who can measure the distance of the universe with the span of his hand (Isaiah 40:12). He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. We are not drawing near to just anybody. We are drawing near to the great Almighty. We must purify our hearts, repent of our sins, and humbly approach Yahweh to draw near to God.

It is more than just opening the Bible and saying a prayer here and there. To draw near to God, we must seek Him with ALL of our heart (Jerimiah 29:13). Before marriage, two individuals who fell in love sought each other with all they had. They spent as much time together as possible. They had an affection for each other that was unmatched. Each person would choose to spend their time with the other over anything else. They would travel many miles if needed to be in the other person’s presence. They would spend hours on the phone talking or not talking. Overall, they didn’t want to be away from each other unless they had to be. This kind of dedication and pursuit is the same that we need to have with Yehwah. 

After a few years of marriage, something tends to happen between the two people who fell madly in love and want to spend all their time together. Life sets in, and the passion they once had starts to fade. It doesn’t mean they don’t love each other, but their passion and desire to spend every minute together becomes less important. Other things become a priority – jobs, children, chores, hobbies. These things begin to take up each person’s time, and the passion they once had slowly fades or is replaced with something else.

Our relationship with God is very much the same. For those who found God and His marvelous love and mercy He has for His creation, their relationship with Yahweh was unmatched. They would sit for hours reading the Word of God. They would go off by themselves and sit in the presence of God. They would blare worship music and never wanted to be away from God’s presence. However, as time progressed, life got in the way. The passion they once had for God slowly gets replaced with other things in the world, and the dedication and passion that was once so strong slowly fades away. I speak from personal experience.

We then question where God is in our lives, and sometimes we might even doubt His existence. Even though we have sat and basked in his presence, we allowed our passion and desire for Him to fade to the point that we don’t even know if He is real. We blame Him for abandoning us. We blame Him for not being present in our life. However, the reality is that we are to blame for it all. We chose to stop pursuing God. We decided to allow other things to take His place. We let the god of this world fill our heads with lies about Yahweh, and our relationship with Him slowly faded. You see, God never departed from us. He never stepped away and left us alone. We did all of that on our own.

Just like in marriage, if a married couple is not careful to pursue their spouse, spend quality time with them, and give them love with all that they are, their relationship begins to crumble. Each person in the marriage will slowly find other things to fulfill their needs and their wants rather than finding it in the person that once fulfilled those wants and needs once before. A marriage takes work and dedication. Marriage is unlike any other relationship. Marriage is a relationship that is grounded on dedication, commitment, and, most importantly, love. When bad things happen in a marriage, there tends to be a tendency to blame the other person for the problems in the marriage. However, there shouldn’t be pointing fingers and blaming. It should be time for both individuals to search their hearts and seek to rebuild their relationship with the other person. To do that, each person must humbly draw close to each other and regain the love that they once had. They must shed the distractions and other things they have allowed to take precedence in their lives. When they have done that with all of their heart, the marriage will once again thrive, and the couple will rediscover what they once already knew about their spouse.

When we stop putting our focus and attention on Yahweh and start putting our attention on the newest shiny object or the mundane activities of life, our relationship with God suffers. And because we are selfish sinners, we tend to blame God or accuse Him of walking away from us when in reality, it was us that walked away from Him. Nevertheless, there is hope. When we choose to repent, cleanse our hands, purify our hearts, and seek after Yehwah with all of our heart, we will find that He has been there the whole time, ready to pick up where we left off. 

We must be the ones to initiate the rebuilding of the broken relationship we caused. We must draw near to God. It is then that God will draw near to us. God values relationship and wants an intimate, authentic relationship with you and me. However, God allows us to dictate what that relationship looks like. He never forces us to have a relationship with Him. He gives us the benefits of what happens when we choose to have a sincere, authentic relationship with Him in His word. He is not a controlling God. He is a jealous God, but He is not manipulative or demanding. He allows us to determine our paths in life. 

As we build relationships in our own life with those around us, we tend to put worth, focus, and trust in relationships that are real, sincere, and meaningful. That kind of relationship is few and far between. Most of the relationships we have in our life are acquaintances and passing friendships. We won’t share our deepest secrets with these people as we would with those who we are closest to. They have yet to earn our trust due to not knowing them as deeply as we do the ones we have dedicated our time and energy to. The relationships closest to us are the ones we value the most. God is no different.

Yahweh wants a close, intimate, and sincere relationship with us. He wants to share His deepest secrets with us. In Psalms 24, the psalmist says, “The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them” (Psalms 24:14). Another version puts it this way, “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.” Notice that the Lord wants to share with us His secrets. However, He only does this with those who fear Him. The word “fear” doesn’t mean “to be afraid of.” Instead, ” fear ” in this context means “to revere, honor, and obey.” Many of us, especially in Western society, have lost what it means to “fear” the Lord. How can we ever expect a deep, intimate, meaningful relationship with Yehwah if we no longer fear Him? 

The same concept applies to the relationship we have with our spouse. If we no longer honor or respect our spouse, how can we expect to have a lasting, meaningful relationship? When we no longer see our spouse as someone who deserves our love, respect, admiration, etc., our relationship with them begins to fall apart. Our relationship with God is very much the same. If we don’t truly understand the authority and power of God and show him reverence, honor, and obedience, how can we expect to know and understand God? When we draw near to God, let us do so with great fear. 

The next time you wonder where God is in your life, or whether or not He even exists, look in the mirror and determine what you have done to no longer seek God with all your heart and how you no longer fear Him. What things have you replaced God with? What has your attention? God wants a relationship with you, but He will never force you to have a relationship with Him. He will allow you to determine the kind of relationship you want to have with Him. Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you!