It Takes Work

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:8 (NKJV)

Consider how this is written. It says first that we are to draw near to God, then God will draw near to us. We have a key part to play in having a personal relationship with God and maintaining one. God expects us to come to Him, then He welcomes us into intimate fellowship. The first move is made by us.

Don’t misunderstand. The Holy Spirit is drawing us all the time. He is wooing us to bring us to Himself. But, the first move is ours. And to keep the relationship alive, we must make the effort.

It can be so easy to get saved and be excited about the Lord for a while. However, we must actively pursue the relationship to keep it vibrant. Life will try to get in and draw us away. There will always be things we have to do or want to do other than spending time with the Lord. There will always be housework, yardwork, schoolwork, and other “demands” that try to distract us from our First Love. Other relationships will try to crowd in and push out your time with God. Distracting entertainment will attempt to take the place of time in the Word and in prayer and worship. And it can be so subtle that we don’t notice it at first.

However, Holy Spirit will nudge us when we start to pull away. He’ll try to draw us back into intimacy again. He will gently remind us that we haven’t read the Word in a while or that we haven’t prayed recently. He’s not condemning us; He’s convicting us. And He’s doing it to protect us. When we get further and further from fellowship with God, our hearts grow cold and we can be drawn even further away. When this happens, we are easy prey for the devil.

It takes work and effort on our part to maintain our relationship with the Lord. We have to remain committed to doing our part to keep ourselves in close intimacy with God. Our relationship with Him is so important that we can’t let up or slack off. We must do everything in our power to stay close to Him.