I am a Friend of God or Nearer My Lord to Thee?

Do you remember as a young child trying to get as close as you could to your daddy? Scooching up next to him on the sofa, with his arms around you, and just snuggling on a cold, winter day?

Have you ever thought about doing the same thing with God? What would it be like to live in a mindset of 'how close can I get to Him' instead of content to be at arms length?

I just completed Beth Moore's study of the Tabernacle, A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place, and I am almost speechless. Those who know me will testify how rare that is!

I don't want to give anything away that might discourage you from going through this study, which I think may be the best study I've ever done, but I will say that I am left with this image and with this desire on my heart - to make each day about getting closer to God than the day before.

Too often, we who call ourselves 'little Christs' (the literal translation of Christian), content ourselves with a relationship that is at arm's length. Like a friend whom you invite over for a meal - but don't let them go upstairs! Heaven forbid they see that our beds aren't made and our shower looks like a biology experiment!

We'll chat with him about our friends and their needs, even about some of our own concerns, but our relationship hasn't gone any deeper in years. We're still praying for the same issues in our life that we prayed about five years ago. We're still confessing the same sins and wondering why we can't seem to overcome.

We've been content with our salvation. Content to know that we are saved. Content to know that we're forgiven. Content to know that we will be in heaven when we pass from this earth.

But why are we satisfied with that when God offers so much more?

Have you ever seen a child who was content to be held by their father at arm's length? Can you imagine a bride content to have her groom shake her hand at the end of the wedding ceremony? Or ten, twenty or fifty years later?

Yet we allow ourselves to be content with the same relationship we've had with God since the day we were saved. We're content to tell folks about the change He wrought in us many years ago, instead of the change He wrought TODAY.

We may have eternity to spend with God, but why wait for eternity to begin growing in your relationship with Him? Each new day is a new opportunity for us to learn more about Him, to allow Him to bless our lives more with His presence, and for us to draw nearer, my Lord, to Thee.