Draw Near

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 298, Draw Near.

James 4:8 — hear it: "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you."

One sentence. Two movements. And tucked inside those two movements, the whole shape of the life of faith.

What stops me every time I read this verse is where it begins. It begins with you. "Draw near to God." Not — God will drag you in whether you like it or not. Not — God will wear you down until you give in. He doesn't work that way, because love doesn't work that way. He waits — arms open, with a patience that is hard to fathom — waiting for you to choose to come. And that choice, that voluntary turning of your heart toward Him, that is what makes a relationship real. Not obligation. Not performance. Love that moves freely, because it wants to.

And the moment you take that step, something happens that the verse does not leave any room to doubt. It does not say "maybe He will draw near." It does not say "if you've been good enough, if your life is clean enough, if you've finally got it together." It says He will draw near to you. No conditions. No asterisk. Christ has already opened the way to the Father — the door is not cracked, it is thrown wide open. All that is asked of you is to walk through it.

Now — I know there are seasons when it feels like God is far away. That silence. That sense that your prayers rise and hit the ceiling and stop. I understand that feeling. But here is what James is telling us: that distance is not geographic. God did not move. He did not turn away. The distance is one of attention — your heart was looking somewhere else. And the moment you turn back toward Him, you find He was already there. Right there. Waiting. He never left.

That changes everything about how we approach this. Because drawing near to God is not just a spiritual discipline — it is not just checking a box on your morning routine. It is exposure. It is putting yourself close to the fire that purifies without consuming, close to the love that sees everything you are — every crack, every failure, every fear — and does not flinch. No one spends time near Him and walks away unchanged. No one. His presence transforms — not by force, but by intimacy.

So here is the call, plain and simple. Today, before breakfast, before you open your phone, before the day starts pulling you in ten directions — find a quiet place. Close your eyes. Two minutes. Just two. And say, with whatever you've got: "Lord, I am drawing near to You." It doesn't have to be beautiful. It doesn't have to be long. It just has to be real. And He will keep His promise — because He always does.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.