Close to You
Forgive me for reminiscing, but I used to love a group in the seventies named the Carpenters. One of their all time greatest hits was a song named “Close to You.” I think it might be a good challenge for us in 2004.
We
so often try to change the world…change our culture and its ways and do it in
the name of the Lord. Actually, it
is interesting to note that Jesus seemed to care very little about that sort of
change. About taxes He said, and
I’m paraphrasing, “No problem…just give Caesar what’s his.
I’m not interested in taxes.” He
also said, “My kingdom is not of this world.”
No, Jesus wasn’t too interested in changing the culture, and I’m not totally
convinced He cares all that much about our social problems of today.
He was, however, vitally interested in changing hearts…individuals
hearts. His kingdom was one of the
heart and one for all eternity. When
the heart is changed, the soul is saved and everything else takes care of
itself.
I
have a thought for 2004. May each of
us make it our highest priority to get close to Him.
Each day, may we find channels to be in His presence and to be aware of
His presence in us. Every
situation…every circumstance…every human encounter…His presence in us.
Personal time with Him…just us and Christ…to stay very close…and
then, let’s see what happens. May
our lives be a response to being close to Christ.
May we pause from worrying about the problems of this world…may we rest
from the stress of the direction it seems to be going and the helplessness we
feel in our ability to make a difference. Let’s
just get close to Christ and see what happens.
Before He can use us to change hearts, He needs the time to change ours.
Christ has a plan for our lives and it starts with getting close to
Him…getting to know Him better…allowing His presence to work through us and
not we on our on. One day at a
time…closer to Him…and then let’s see what happens.
We might be surprised!
Happy
New Year!