If you’re like me, in the last week you have been on conference calls, Skype calls and FaceTime calls. You’ve been on Zoom calls, Microsoft Team calls and GoTo Meeting calls. Church, business, and even just socially, we are learning to thoroughly embrace these technologies to help bridge the gap of loneliness. In fact, one of the coolest things I enjoy about large group Zoom calls is checking out where people are. They might set up in their living room, kitchen or even outside in their backyard. As our discussions progress, my head is on a swivel to check out whats in the background and as you do you can learn just a little more about your Zoom buddies. But regardless of the technology there’s one thing you just can’t fake, no one is close. Just last Sunday we had a Zoom call with our Sunday School group and there were people from Fort Worth, Aledo, White Settlement, Burleson, Benbrook, Weatherford, Granbury and Joshua. Even though they were right there on my computer screen, I knew that physically, they were miles away.
Speaking of this, have you ever wondered how far away God is? God’s Word clearly tells us that God the Father is in Heaven and that Jesus sits at His right hand. But are they really that far away? We’re also told very clearly that Jesus ascended so that He could send us a Holy helper, that is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives within the hearts of individuals that have called upon Jesus Christ to save them from their sins, so it would seem to make very good sense that the Holy Spirit is very near. But today in Deuteronomy 30 I discovered a passage that gave me goosebumps. A passage that in this day and age of self-isolation gives great comfort as to just how close God is. Let’s take a gander.
“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” Deut. 30:11-14
When you pick up your Bible and begin to read from those Holy pages, does anything happen to you? Goosebumps? A little chill down your spine? A feeling of exhilaration? You see, when you hold God’s Word in your hand, you are holding the very spoken Words of God. And folks, when you read from those Words, God will draw near, it’s a promise from the mouth of God.
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8
There’s been numerous times in my life where I have felt greatly distanced from God. It was naturally because of sin issues in my life, sin can and will drive a wedge between us and the closeness that God desires with us. You see, there’s an old saying, “if you find yourself far from God, He’s not the one that moved.” So true.
Our passage this morning is powerful in isolating this issue. Sin separates us from God and because of this separation, we also move away from careful time studying His Word. You see, our passage is beyond clear, you needn’t take a rocket ship to Heaven to draw near to God. You needn’t commandeer a mighty sailing ship and head off into the seas at the end of the world to draw near to God. You see, God is the Word and the Word is God. He is both a part of it and all of it. His Words are very near, it’s in your mouth and it’s in your heart. As you keep God’s Word close, you keep God close. And folks, what better way to walk this world than side by side with God.
Today, I pray that you are willing to take the necessary effort to draw near to God through the daily study of His Word. There’s nothing complicated about it, in fact God made it as simple as possible for us. Pick up your Bible, read and feel God drawing near. The choice is open to all, but it is just that, a choice. And the choice is yours.
I read the other day that during this national self-quarantine, alcohol use has skyrocketed 42%. What an alarming stat. But it started me thinking about the increase in time spent in God’s Word? Do you think that as people have hours and days and weeks of free time on their hands that they’re taking some of that time to engage in a study of God’s Word? To take advantage of this downtime and draw near to the God of the universe? My prayer is that people will indeed during this time of uncertainty, call upon a God that is so very near. A God that so desperately wants us to pick up His Word, meditate upon it and store it up in our hearts. That is my prayer for all that read this today.
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. He is closer than you think.
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