I can hear, echoing in my memory, the haunting sounds of the old song,

“Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, let it be…
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.”

As emotional as the words of this song may be, they don’t accurately reflect the message of Scripture.

What do we mean when we sigh, and yearn, and pray to walk closer to the Lord? Is there something we expect the Lord to do to draw us “closer” to Him? What do we mean by “closer”?

Jesus placed the requirements and the initiative squarely on us. Too often we cry and moan and pray that the Lord will draw us closer to Him when, in fact, He has done everything necessary to remove the barrier and open the way to fellowship with the Father and with Himself. He leaves it up to us to take the initiative.

Let’s see what the Bible says and follow this way instead of waiting for God to do more than He has already done.

First, He has given us a new status! He has dealt with our spiritual condition that blocked our way to Him. He has made us righteous, freed from guilt and shame through the blood of Jesus.

He has drawn us to Jesus. He has opened our hearts to the message of salvation and even given us faith to receive the truth.

John 6:44 NIV
[44] “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

It’s the Father’s initiative to draw us to Jesus.

He has brought our dead spirits back to life.

Ephesians 2:1, 4-6 NIV
[1] “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins..
[4] But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, [5] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. [6] And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus…”

He has seated us next to Jesus on His throne in the closest proximity possible. We are as close to Jesus in spirit as we can ever be. In fact, we have become one with Him through the Holy Spirit in us.

Did you get that? God did something we could not do! He brought our dead spirits back to life, joined us to Jesus, and seated us with Him in the heavenly realm. So, where are we now? Seated with Christ in the heavenly realms! Can we be any closer to Him than that?

Second, we have an open-ended invitation.

Hebrews 10:19-22 NIV
[19] “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, [20] by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, [21] and since we have a great priest over the house of God, [22] LET US DRAW NEAR to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

Again, did you get that? Now, the initiative is ours! It’s up to us to act, by faith, on what God has done.

James 4:7-8 NIV
[7] “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8] Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Submit…resist…come near! These are all attitudes we must adopt, mindsets we must cultivate, truths we must believe, not to FEEL near to the Lord but to LIVE near to Him. Paul said, “We walk by faith, not by sight (or by feelings)”.

One thing blocks our fellowship with the Father…sin! Sin, in its many forms… thoughts, attitudes, words, deeds…puts up a barrier between us and others, and between us and God. Sin, in its worst form, is doing anything without reference to the Lord. If we make choices and decisions without communicating and doing what Jesus tells us, then we have taken control and He is no longer Lord for us.

John wrote…sin is the barrier to fellowship. Deal with it!

1 John 1:5-10 NIV
[5] This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. [6] If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. [8] If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. [10] If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

God has provided the solution to our lack of transparency. Forgiveness! Use it! As long as we are harbouring sin, we cannot function in the realm of closeness to the Lord.

Jesus has a solution to our desire for closeness…

John 15:4-5 NIV
[4] “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. [5] “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Remaining in Jesus is a choice we must make and an attitude we must cultivate, based on what He said. We cultivate the awareness of His presence by choosing to believe that it’s true, and by communing with Him in our hearts continually.

How do we maintain this union? By “walking in His commandments”. What are His commandments? “Love one another.” It’s as simple as that.

Romans 13:8 NIV
[8] “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.”

How can we know that we are close to the Lord? He has given us one simple test…His peace! When we have peace in our hearts, we know there is no barrier between us and the Lord.

Colossians 3:15 NLT
[15] “And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.”

Do you get it?

The most powerful and accurate monitor of our closeness to the Lord is His peace in our hearts. Keeping our thoughts aligned with His Word and our attitudes and actions towards others loving, we can know and experience His closeness to us.

Philippians 4:6-9 NLT
[6] “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. [7] Then you will experience GOD’S PEACE, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. [8] And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. FIX YOUR THOUGHTS on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. THINK ABOUT things that are excellent and worthy of praise. [9] Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then THE GOD OF PEACE will be with you.”

Once again, God has given us, in His Word, the way to cultivate and experience the closeness to Jesus that we desire. He has done His part. Now it’s up to us to do our part. As we position ourselves, by faith, in union with Jesus, in the realm where He is sovereign, His peace guards and protects us from all the dangers and challenges the enemy uses to lure us away from that place of perfect peace.

Isaiah 26:3-4 NLT
[3] “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! [4] Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.”