Coming into God's Presence

 September 11, 2024

Wednesday

Years ago I conducted a meeting with the leadership of a Single Adult Council in a church where I was the Singles Minister. I proposed something that would undoubtedly bring singles closer to God. Of course, they would need to alter what they were doing. To me, the payoff for a closer relationship with God far outweighed the output. One of the more cynical people on the Council huffed, "You act like they want to do that!" He was right. I was assuming that most people whether or not they were single would want the things that I wanted. I wanted a closer relationship with God.  I have found that most people don't.

After Moses delivers the Ten Commandments to the Israelites, they are invited to come closer to God but they refused to go.

Exodus 20:18–21 (NASB 2020) ¹⁸ And all the people were watching and hearing the thunder and the lightning flashes, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it all, they trembled and stood at a distance. ¹⁹ Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but do not have God speak to us, or we will die!” ²⁰ However, Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you will not sin.” ²¹ So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

Would God have invited them closer just to kill them? I don't think so. I know something about coming closer to God, though. You can't just run into His presence without expecting to be significantly changed. It is far easier to let a preacher speak to God. Then, you can decide if you will obey. Getting that close and telling God no would have been a very dangerous act.

It appears that people want to get close enough for the benefits but not so close that it will cost them something. The rich young ruler was an example of this. He was willing to follow Jesus as long as he didn't need to give up his money. Getting closer to God means giving up some earthly love. In some cases, people become missionaries and rarely see their parents. In some cases, people live in obscurity serving the Lord. In some cases, they serve the Lord and lose their lives. Yes, getting truly close to God will cost some earthly treasure.

When Peter was said to have "little faith" I wondered about the rest of the disciples. He was the one who asked Jesus' to command him to walk on the water. The other disciples stayed in the boat. If Peter had only little faith what did the other disciples have? 

No one can honestly call Jesus Lord while clinging to something on this earth. What we will give up determines how close we will come to the Lord. We sing "I Surrender All" but most do not mean it. They think faith is something that doesn't change the way they live in this world. They don't realize that if what you have doesn't change how you live in this world, it isn't faith.

Today, I decided for the nth number of times that nothing will get between me and Jesus. I'll bet a bunch of you will decide that too. You will be rare, but you will also truly know what it is to come into the presence of an awesome God.