Why are you keeping your distance?

With few exceptions (for example, Abraham, Jacob, and Moses), the Old Testament “believers” didn’t get too close to God. Do you remember how afraid the Israelites were at Mt. Sinai?  They said to Moses, “you go, and we’ll stay here," (Ex. 20:21), preferring to maintain a safe distance.  Even the “High Priest” entered the Holy of Holies once a year with feelings of trepidation, taking the blood offering to God on behalf of those who remained in the outer court, at a safe distance.

So it was an extraordinary event when Jesus was crucified and the veil that separated the worshippers from God was torn in half, signifying that believers now have the privilege of worshiping God up close and personal.  The distance between God and man was at once and forever eliminated.

I once saw a bumper sticker that read, “If you’re feeling far away from God, guess who moved?” Don't let your feelings keep you away from God.  James promises that if you “draw near to God, He will draw near to you.” (4:8) And the writer of Hebrews says "let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water" (10:22).

Follow the Leader to Belize

Tomorrow morning, Altha and I will leave for our 3rd missionary trip to Belize. Though our itinerary is set, we are quite aware that we must follow His lead.

On the surface, it sounds so simple: Jesus is the leader; we are the followers. But following is not passive participation—it is a discipline: intentional and deliberate. Have you ever been driving behind someone, following them to an unknown place—unfamiliar to you, and become separated? Eventually, they stopped and waited until you caught up. In this experience there is a valuable lesson about being a follower: you must follow closely behind the one who leads you. If too much distance is permitted between you and the one who knows the way, you may wind up lost.

On the night that Peter denied knowing Jesus, Mark says Peter was following “at a distance” (14:54). But following Jesus “at a distance” implies more than physical detachment. It implies a distance in relationship. If we are to be good followers of Jesus, we must stay close to Him—Jesus called it ‘abiding.’ Solomon said, “acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight (Prob. 3:6).

As we return to Belize, pray that we will be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit at each twist and turn—resulting in a straight path! On our return we’ll be able to share the many wonderful ways that God led us.

Some People Keep Their Distance From God

You don’t have to be a psychologist to know that when people are hurt, they “distance” themselves from the one who hurt them. It’s the safest way not to be hurt again!

Unfortunately, when people misunderstand God’s work in their lives, they feel hurt and want to distance themselves from Him too. In Jeremiah 2:5 God says: “What injustice did your fathers find in Me that they went far away [distanced themselves] from me?”

No one knows the Father’s heart like Jesus. And Jesus tells us God is like a gardener pruning a vine—cutting away “natural” growth, SELF LIFE that is keeping HIS LIFE from producing more fruit. In employing this analogy—pruning/cutting—in John 15, Jesus also uses the word “abide.” That the branch must abide in the vine seems self-evident, doesn’t it!

The significance is this: ABIDING is the opposite of DISTANCING. Jesus is saying when the Father is cutting away your self-life, it may hurt. And your reaction may be to ‘move away’ or detach yourself from Him: stay connected to Me—“abide,” He says. Image a branch trying to detach itself from the vine! And it is just as absurd to distance ourselves from God. If we detach or disconnect from Him, we disconnect from the source of life, and can bear no fruit. And worse, we will whither.

I saw a bumper sticker one time that read: “If you feel far away from God, guess who moved?”