February 27, 2023
“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8)
Rev. Stu Smith ’77
I have been so very blessed in my life to witness the lives of others whose relationship with God was so real to them that it truly made an impact on their daily lives. These individuals had such a deep and intimate personal relationship with God that made it so very noticeable in all that did and all that they said.
I found that this was a result of the amount of time that they spent with God each and every single day. These folks, who inspired me, were not ones that took a few moments on Sunday to commune with their Lord and checked off the list that they did what was expected of them. These witnesses in my life had a relationship with God that was as vibrant on Monday through Saturday as it is when they were in Sunday worship at their local church.
Again, the difference that I saw in their lives was the result of spending prolonged time with God. Even as they were getting older in years; I had the sense that they had never stopped pursuing God and desiring more of Him.
I read this recently; “having regular times with God will allow you & me to get to know Him better. And as we do, we will find ourselves loving Him more and more. It will also allow us to get to know ourselves better. And it will produce growth in our lives that we have never known before”. I have found this to be true.
So, dear friend, let us choose to draw near to the One who so desperately longs to draw near to us. So that we too will show that time with God truly does make a difference in our lives all for the good of others and for the ultimate glory of God.