God is Near to All who Call on Him
It seems that some people think that God is not listening to them. They may think He does not love them, which is not true, because He is love. They may think that their sins have caused Him to shut them out and to give up on them, which is not true either. Yes, our sins separate us from God. That is why we need salvation through Jesus Christ. Our sins could cause the Lord not to answer our prayers as He would if we were faithful to Him. However, God is near to all who call upon Him. (Psalm 145:18) The psalmist gives us this truth, and another facet of it that we all need to keep in mind, too.
God is not distant, if we call to Him. In fact, He desires to be close to each of us, even the biggest sinners. He is like the prodigal son's father, waiting for us to return to Him, to call upon Him. The problem is that sometimes we do not remember to call on Him, at all. We go about doing things ourselves, and we do not think about God. At other times, we may call on Him, but not in truth, as the psalmist said we should. To call on Him in truth means to be honest with the Lord. We can't lie to God and have Him draw near. We can't try to deceive Him, to pull the wool over His eyes. He is much too all-knowing for that. We must come to Him baring our soul to Him. Then, He is very near to us, and He is ready to hear us, whoever we might be.
It seems to me that the wise thing for all of us to do would be to call upon the Lord in truth every day. That is part of having an "unhurried time" with the Lord. We call. He draws near. We hear what He says to us, and we do it. What a glorious way to live.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 146-148.
God is not distant, if we call to Him. In fact, He desires to be close to each of us, even the biggest sinners. He is like the prodigal son's father, waiting for us to return to Him, to call upon Him. The problem is that sometimes we do not remember to call on Him, at all. We go about doing things ourselves, and we do not think about God. At other times, we may call on Him, but not in truth, as the psalmist said we should. To call on Him in truth means to be honest with the Lord. We can't lie to God and have Him draw near. We can't try to deceive Him, to pull the wool over His eyes. He is much too all-knowing for that. We must come to Him baring our soul to Him. Then, He is very near to us, and He is ready to hear us, whoever we might be.
It seems to me that the wise thing for all of us to do would be to call upon the Lord in truth every day. That is part of having an "unhurried time" with the Lord. We call. He draws near. We hear what He says to us, and we do it. What a glorious way to live.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 146-148.