When an individual becomes a child of God, he begins his spiritual trek as a babe in Christ (1 Pet. 2:2). He is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) with a new life in front of him (Rom. 6:3,4). As he travels along the spiritual path that leads to eternal bliss, he is privileged and obligated to draw nearer to, yea, closer to his God each and every moment. James, the brother of the Lord, puts it this way:

"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (Jas. 4:7,8).

Drawing nearer to God ought to be our constant quest. When we speak of drawing nearer to Him we are discussing the idea of growing in His grace in knowledge (2 Peter 3:18). Certainly we could say that we draw nearer to God when we become more like Him (Eph. 5:1) as we are conformed to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29). So, it becomes pressing for us to ask what is it that can allow us to draw nearer to our Master.

First, if we are to draw near to God, we must have a desire to do so. Everything accomplished in life first begins with desire. The man who is concerned with drawing nearer to his Maker will have a hunger and thirst to do so. The words of the Psalmist bear out this truth, "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the Living God. When shall I come and appear before God" (Psa. 42:1-2)? Do we have this same desire to be closer to Jehovah? If we do, we can look forward to much satisfaction, for our Lord Himself said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Mat. 5:6).

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

Second, drawing nearer our Sovereign calls for us to act upon the desire we possess. It is not enough to simply desire to be closer to the Lord, we must move upon the desire if our goals in Him are to be accomplished. Therefore, in order to draw nearer to Him, we will spend much time in prayer (Luke 18:1; 1 Thes. 5:17). We will spend much time in meditation upon His word (Ps. 1:2; Jos. 1:8). We will spend much time in service and worship to Him, both publicly and privately (Rom. 12:1,2; John 4:24). We will seek His will in everything (Mat. 6:33; Col. 3:17). With all of our energy, we will seek to "be doers of His word" so that we might please Him in everything.