Saturday 1 March 2008

DRAW NEAR TO GOD HERE...

“…Then the priest said, "Let us draw near to God here." (1Samuel 14:36)

When Saul became the first king of Israel, he faced implacable enemies in his neighbours, the Philistines. Throughout his reign he did not find the opportunity to make peace with these sworn-enemies and he actually died in a battle with them on Mount Gilboah.

There are occasions when we face very difficult situations – there are problems that people face which have persisted for a long time, pinning them down and making progress difficult, if not impossible. Sometimes such problems manifest in our health, sometimes it is in our finances, sometimes it is in our marriage, sometimes it is in our family (misbehaving children, difficult parents, hard siblings, chaotic extended family issues, etc). Sometimes we even face problems together as a Church, or in our Church!

This is where we can catch the wisdom of what the priest was saying to Saul and his army generals in 1Samuel 14:36. Saul saw the enormity of the problem before him in the Philistines and thought he had a chance to jump upon them and kill them all. Therefore, he said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and plunder them until the morning light; and let us not leave a man of them." His generals agreed with him, they said, "Do whatever seems good to you." But the priest saw things differently: the challenges that we face in life are a great opportunity for us to draw closer to God.

There are many things around us which whisper loudly, “Let us draw near to God here!” Churches are a big voice reminding us to draw near to God here. The various sad stories that we read about or see on television, they cry out loudly to this nation to draw near to God here. The word “here” in that scripture refers to any situation that we face and we feel we have got the answers sorted out or we feel perplexed by their enormity or complexity – that is where and when to draw close to God!

A nation that is clever in its own eyes, and people that feel so secure in their own cleverness will always end up, in the course of time, great losers! It may take years, it may take generations but the Bible warns us repeatedly that those who ignore the Creator of the universe will no doubt face very adverse consequences in the course of time.

The wise Teacher says: “Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well.” (Ecclesiastes 12:6) Elsewhere, the Psalmist says: “For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish…” (Psalm 73:27)

Now, we know God loves the world so much that He gave up His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for all of us and if we put our faith in Him and walk in His footsteps as God’s redeemed people, we will not perish. The cross of Jesus speaks loudly and eloquently: “Draw near to God here!”

The great hymn says it all: “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care? Precious Saviour, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer; In His arms He’ll take and shield thee, thou wilt find a solace there.”

The Bible says, Jesus is our great High Priest, always making intercession for us before the throne of His Father. May I plead with you today: "Let us draw near to God here, at the foot of Jesus.” May the LORD God Almighty answer you wonderfully today. Amen.