Closer Than NearbySample

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?

I am sure most of us agree that trust between lovers is a significant building block for intimacy. The moment when someone starts doubting their lover’s motives, there is a distance between them. It may also be our insecurities that cause us to wonder why someone would bother to love us. David experiences a similar moment when he sings to God.

During David’s intimate moment with God, he starts to wonder why God continues to pursue him despite his weaknesses. His human nature cannot even understand the magnitude of God’s love for him, how can he ever return it? “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, You are still with me! (Psalm 139:17-18, NLT).

In the same way, we often lose out on intimacy with God when we struggle to understand the depth of his great love for us. It simply does not make sense that God wants to love us while we only have weakness to offer in return. We automatically fall back on our default understanding of love. We know from experience that love only lasts while the needs of both sides are being met. But you see, the difference is that God does not need anything from us. “‘Since he is the Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs - for he has no needs. He gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need’” (Acts 17:24-25, NLT).

Do you often feel that you should do something for God in return for his love? Do you think your understanding of God’s love may be keeping you from being intimate with God?

There is only one reason why God lavishes us with love, which is to invite us closer to Him. “‘His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him - though he is not far from any of us’” (Acts 17:27, NLT).

Let us accept God’s great gift of salvation completely by trusting his motives with us. It is free! “When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners” (Romans 4:4-5, NLT).