James 4:8 – Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

THEME OF THE DAY: AS CLOSE AS WE WANT TO BE. I remember one of the most important lessons my dad taught me growing up. It was the lesson about making desires or goals reality by hard work, perseverance, and just not giving up.

It happened as a young teenager with a driver’s license and a desire for independence (that being defined as having my own car). I wanted to be set free from riding the big yellow school bus. That was for kids. I was past that. And I had a very active social life with friends and sports. I not only wanted a car, I “needed” a car. So, the conversation came up. I remember sitting with my parents in the living room. I was ready. I had rehearsed on why I needed a car. I felt the pitch was flawless. They would see my rationale and a car would soon be in my future. They heard me out, then a pause. My dad said, “Son, I agree. It is a great idea. You need a car.” My mom echoed the unified position. We were all on the same page. I was ready to jump up and down with thank you and hugs everywhere. But he didn’t stop. He then said, “That means you need a job to buy that car.” I felt like air let out of a tire. I went into defensive mode, “But I am playing sports, homework, girlfriend, and chores. I don’t have time for a job.” He didn’t budge. “You want a car. Get a job. I will help you fix it up if need be.” He was an excellent mechanic and auto body man. Well to end the story, I went to the pro at the town golf course who was a good friend of the family. Everyone is a good friend of everyone in my small town. I walked in and said, “Homer, I need a job.” He smiled and gave me a job as the lowest of the lowest grounds keeper. It was hard work. It was sweaty, painful, long days, and worth every hour as I bought my car and dad helped me fix it up. My desire was real because the effort to achieve the desire was put in place. True desire to achieve something is only true if the hard work to get the desire fulfilled is displayed.

It is the same in walks with the Lord Jesus. I talk to discouraged Christians who lament, “I want to grow in the Lord. I want to know Him, be faithful and serve Him” but when I ask, “Are you diligently seeking Him? Are you doing what He says is necessary to make the desire to know Him a reality?” And the answer is always “no”. That simply means the desire isn’t a true desire. Friends, we are as close to the Lord in knowing and loving Him as we want to be. He is eager and ready to be had and known, but not without effort, disciplined effort, by us. In fact, if we don’t give it our best disciplined effort, then we won’t get close to Him. He said, “You will find me when you seek me with your whole heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

The greatest privilege a human being has is knowing God. It makes sense the greatest effort should be given to the greatest privilege. And God told us plainly and clearly that we will know Him when we give our best to know Him in the four ways He has provided; our diligence in His Word, our fervency in our prayers, our obedience to His commands, and our commitment to His church. If we cut corners, give half-hearted effort, neglect, ignore, or simply just go through the motions in all these areas, then we cannot expect to get close to the Lord. We will have a shallow, stale, lifeless, routine, and dull Christian experience. Church will be boring; the Bible not understood; prayer mechanical, and obedience vaguely adhered to. And this is not God’s desire for us. He wants us to know Him. He has provided the ways for us to know Him which leads to enjoying Him. It is all up to us. Let’s make sure our desire to know Him is a real desire to know Him as evidenced by our diligence to seek Him. Just like me getting my first car, but far more so, will be the satisfaction seeing our effort to know God rewarded by that very thing – knowing Him.

PRAYER: “Father, help me to affirm my desire to know you by my effort to seek you.”

QUOTE: “We are as close to God as we choose to be. He is willing to be known by us.”