Draw Near To God

Tuesday January 27, 2026

I have recently given thought to the Scripture, “Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you” (James 4:8).  The main question that came to my mind as I considered this verse was, “why would God require the first move to be upon us?”.  As we go through different seasons of life, our perspectives change, our struggles change, and even our earthly desires change.  Many times in our recent reading of the Psalms, we see the psalmist declaring that he will seek the Lord (Psalm 27:8) and encouraging others to seek the Lord (Psalm 22:26).  Going back to the context of James, that chapter begins with a rhetorical question about where wars and fightings among us come from; they come from our own lusts.  It goes on to describe desires that focus on self.  It is easy to become self-absorbed in this life and view everything from the perspective of one’s own happiness.  This can lead to a very dark place.  The solution?  Submit yourself to God (James 4:7).  Submitting is an act of humbling yourself; completely emptying yourself of yourself.  Draw near to God.  Drawing near to God is indicative of desire and need.  You can’t save yourself, nor can you fix yourself.  Again, it is the complete opposite of being self-focused or self-absorbed.  It should amaze us that in this condition, God would even tolerate us.  However, the promise is not that God would just tolerate us, but that He would draw near to us.  God knows our needs and desires to help us.  The instructions in James goes on to tell us to cleanse our hands, purify our hearts, to be afflicted and mourn, to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord.  He will lift us up!  In closing, returning to our psalm this morning, “My heart says this about You:  “Seek His face.”  Lord, I will seek your face.  Do not hid your face from me; do not turn your servant away in anger.  You have been my helper; do not leave me or abandon me, God of my salvation” (Psalm 27:8-9).