Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. (James 4:8)
One of the great images that Jesus gives us is the father running and embracing the Prodigal Son as he returns home. His son had betrayed him and asked for his inheritance, which was as good as wishing his father dead. He had gone and squandered the lot, before coming to his senses in a pigpen. And as this lonely figure appears on the horizon, the father runs out to meet him.
Here is a great truth of the Christian life: it as we seek God that he is revealed to us. As you reach out in prayer, or dive deep in the scriptures, God draws near to you. The Christian life is an active one, seeking to draw near to God, not a passive one where we just sit around waiting for something to happen.
The call to draw near to God is a promise to keep close at hand when things look bleak. As Jeremiah pondered the ruins of Jerusalem, newly laid waste by the Babylonians, he bore witness to the goodness of God:
“I called on your name, O LORD,
from the depths of the pit;
you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
your ear to my cry for help!’
You came near when I called on you;
you said, ‘Do not fear!’ (Lamentations 3:55-57)
So store this up in your great treasury of the promises of God: “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”
