Move Back Over

The story is tod of an elderly couple pulling up behind a young couple sitting very close to each other in their car. The old woman, sitting over against the passenger window asked her husband, "Do you remember when we used to sit that close?"  "I sure do," he replied.  "What happened to us, why do we sit so far apart?"  The old man, scratching his chin answered, "I don't rightly know, I haven't moved any."

We wonder sometimes, why we feel distant from God. We lament tearfully, "I feel so alone,". We wonder to ourselves, "Where is God when I need Him?"  "Why has He left me like this?"  The truth is that God is not the one who has moved.  He is right where we left Him.  Jesus is very clear in Is promise, "I will not leave you as orphans" (John 14:18).  If  we feel distance, we are the ones who have moved, not God.

The clear answer is found I James 4:8, "Come near to God and he will come near to you."  I. Other words, since He has not moved, just scoot back over and you will both be side-by-side.  James even reveals the "how to" for moving back over.

What James has to say in vss. 8-10 is basically this, wash your hands, purify your heart and grieve [your soul], which will humble you before God and He will lift you up. What this means is for us to consider the greviois nature of our sin (that which causes the distance), determine in our heart to turn away from it and then become hands-on in changing the behavior, thereby humbling ourselves before God who will scoop us up in His arms.

Perhaps you have been living a lie that causes the distance, it's time to come clean. Perhaps lust has you in it's grip, it's time to clean your heart. Maybe you've simply put prayer and Bible study on the back burner, and you need to carve out quiet time with God. Whatever it is, it's time to humbly lay it on the altar of devotion to the One who loves you, and let Him draw you near again   It's time to move back over.

Jus' Sayn.