You can learn a lot from a dog. At least, I know our dogs have taught me many a lesson. Here’s a simple one that most dog trainers might not appreciate. Let me explain.
We now have three children that live out-of-town (much to my chagrin). Now if Mr. B. hasn’t seen one of them for a while--and I should note that Bingley’s definition of “a while” can range from a few weeks to just a few hours--he has a tendency to rush up, and the moment that child sits down, he’ll suddenly leap into their laps. It’s as if he’s saying, “Oh my goodness, I haven’t seen you in sooo long, and here you are...and this is just fabulous...and here I come!”
And then Bingley's happy and contented simply sitting quietly in their lap for as long as they’ll sit there. Doesn’t matter where our children are sitting or what their doing:
On the sofa looking at the computer--
On the chair doing homework--
Or watching TV--
Or just plopped on the floor chatting--
If you sit down, he will come. Why? Because he loves his family and simply wants to be as close to them as possible.
And I got to thinking: is that our response with the Lord of the universe? The Lord who also happens to be our Abba, our dearest Daddy who loves us extravagantly, enjoys our company, and longs to have an intimate relationship with us. How shocking is that? The sovereign Creator and Sustainer of the heavens and the earth actually wants to know us, forgive us, teach us, empower us, and love us? Scandalous...and unimaginably glorious.
But here’s the thing: we’ve got to come. He gives us the choice--we can remain at a distance...or we can come. We can stew in our own selfish inadequate juices...or we can draw near to our beloved, gracious, good God.
Here’s how v.22 in Hebrews 10 puts it in the first of those three “Let us” exhortations I wrote about the other day: “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
You know, this is the essence of our faith--to draw near to God and enjoy fellowship with the Almighty. James 4:8 describes it this way: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
So how do we draw near to God? By prayer and studying His Word. Rom.10:17 tells us “Faith comes by hearing and hearing from the Word of Christ.”
It's as simple and profoundly life-changing as that.
We try to make it so complicated, don’t we, but it simply means setting aside time everyday to “draw near” or as Jesus expressed it in Mt.11:28 : "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Do you want to know the secret to abundant, joyful, fully-satisfying Life? It’s this command to draw near--to come and sit at the feet of your Heavenly Father, Bible in your lap, and talk to and listen to Him in His Word.
In the words of Alexander Maclaren, “There are none of us so close to Him but that we may be nearer, and the secret of our daily Christian life is all wrapped up in that one word, ‘come.’ Nearness is what we are to pursue, and that nearness is capable of indefinite increase. We know not how close to His heart we can lay our aching heads. We know not how near to His fullness we may bring our emptiness.”
God wants to fill our emptiness, overcome our weakness, and overwhelm our neediness with His infinite supply of grace, forgiveness, and power...but He’s left the choice up to us. Like Mr. B., we have to choose to come to the lap of our Heavenly Daddy...and jump in! What on earth could possibly be more important, more satisfying, more day-and-destiny altering than that?
Oh don’t miss the priceless, wondrous opportunity today to come.
“Let us draw near.”
To God be the glory.
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