Teaching Letter 41

Do you know you have a standing invitation to come into the presence of the King of Kings? The welcome mat is out. God calls you and me to draw near to Him. Isn’t that a marvelous thing?.

I’ve never received an invitation from a monarch. If I were invited to a royal wedding or to dinner with Queen Elizabeth, I would immediately check to see if the invitation were a mistake or fake. If it were genuine, I’d make every effort to go. I’d be excited and would Facebook all my friends. Sadly, I’m not on any royal most-likely-to-be-invited list.

Happily, God’s initial invitation to draw near is to “whosoever will” (John 3:16). Anyone may come to God through Jesus’ shed blood on Calvary. We may wonder why the King of Kings would even be interested; nevertheless, He is and He invites all who will to come and receive His free gift of salvation.

Interestingly, after initially coming to Christ for salvation, we still hear, “Draw near to God.” The Holy Spirit first draws sinners to Christ for forgiveness of sin and to receive eternal life. Next He invites us—God’s family—near for fellowship and intimacy. To truly know Him. A queen’s family lives near and may enter her private chambers freely. We—the children of God—aren’t only invited to the King’s table for a one-time special event but to a lifetime of drawing near to Him who loves us without limit.

As in earthly families, some of God’s children do not always draw near to Him. We can be prone to wander occasionally. Sometimes other things may take the place of intimacy with God. James speaks of Christians who choose friendship with the world instead of closeness with God: A warning is offered: “Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of

God” (James 4:4 NKJ). When that happens, James says, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously” (4:5).

The Holy Spirit yearns jealously? Yes, He yearns for us. He yearns for us because we belong to God, having been purchased at great price. Though we belong to Him, we still may choose whether we will draw near to Him. If we move or drift away, we risk becoming a friend of the world and an enemy of God. We risk becoming worldly Christians, acting more like the world than like God.

I want to focus now on how we may draw near to God in the way that pleases Him. You may not have given much thought to how to approach God. And it’s true we may come to Him just as we are and at any moment for any reason. However, just as there is protocol for greeting Queen Elizabeth and other monarchs, there is protocol for coming near to God. For God, however, it’s never formality that matters. He is the King of Kings who truly loves all of us and wants us near. God’s protocol focuses on our heart attitudes.

God accepts the humble. James quoted Proverbs 3:34: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6 NKJ). If you and I are resisting pride that arises in our hearts occasionally, then God will give us grace. James wrote: “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (4:10). Pride hinders our attempts to draw near to God.

When Queen Esther came before King Ahasuerus (Book of Esther), she came humbly, in essence, bowing before him. She received the grace and favor of the king, and so will we when we approach God in humility. God will lift you up as Esther was. The writer of Psalm 95 said: “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel

Drawing Near to God

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you . . . .” (James 4:8 NKJ).

before the Lord our Maker” (v. 6). The physical act of kneeling is a good idea when possible.

Jesus also described the humility which paves the way to drawing near to Him: “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:16 NKJ). Young children are the least proud of all of us. Jesus went on to say: “. . . whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it” (18:17).

We may come boldy. The writer of Hebrews said: “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16 NKJ). Humility and boldness can coexist.

We may come boldly not because of our own merits but because Jesus our “great High priest” (v. 14) has gone before us into God’s presence and has presented the sacrifice of His blood to the Father on our behalf. Our confidence to draw near is because we know God accepts Jesus who died for our sins. We do not need to offer any sacrifice as was necessary under the Law before Jesus’ death on the Cross.

We should come reverently. Though we may come boldly and confidently, we do not forget who God is. As King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Creator of heaven and earth, He commands reverence. The writer of Psalm 89 said: “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by all those around Him” (v. 7).

God said to His people: “ ‘Do you not fear Me?’. . . . ‘Will you not tremble at My presence?’ ” (Jeremiah 5:22 NKJ). We do not fear being struck down (though there is the case of Ananias and Sapphira who lied to the Holy Spirit—see Acts 5 in the New Testament). We are His beloved children. However, He is worthy of respect—a proper heart attitude for drawing near to Him.

We should draw near sincerely. Jesus occasionally called the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites. Hypocrites are people who are false in what they present themselves to be. The Pharisees and others of Jesus’ day only wanted to look like true God-worshipers. Jesus knew their hearts.

Jesus said: “ ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but

their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:8 NKJ). God knows whether we are honest in our heart when we pray or worship. It is possible to fool people with false piety, but God is never fooled and does not accept insincerity. The writer of Hebrews encourages us: “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith . . .” (10:22).

The last principle I will mention is the two gifts we should bring when we draw near to God. In the Old Testament it was customary to bring a gift to a king when approaching him—protocol again. Here’s an example from 1 Kings 10:10: “Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great quantity, and precious stones. There never again came such abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.”

To give a king a gift showed honor. Solomon did not need gifts. Neither does God, but He is pleased when we offer Him praise and thanksgiving. It demonstrates our respect and gratitude to Him who is worthy. Psalm 100 says: “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name” (v, 4).

Spiritually speaking, when we come to God in prayer or quiet time, we enter His gates and courts in the heavenlies. And when we draw near to God, we should bring Him heart gifts, offered in sincerity not in formality.

I hope your times of drawing near to God will be enriched by this study. Blessings!

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY Teaching Letter 41

“Drawing Near to God” Sonjia Hunt Ministries

www.sonjiahuntministries.com PO Box 21 Cleveland, TN 37364-0021