Day 2200 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.


James 4:8 NIV

You're only as close to God as you choose to be. A friend of mine shared that yesterday and it's been on my mind ever since. Choosing to follow God is just that, a choice. It is something that each person has to decide to do for themselves. God won't force us to pick Him over anything else. And we can't force anyone else to choose Him either. It's a personal choice that we all have to make.

I think one of the biggest things that holds us back is that choosing to follow God requires letting a lot of things go. It means turning away from the life that we've always known to head off in a completely different direction. It's basically learning how to live life again, just with a completely new perspective and all new priorities. And I think that much change is rather horrifying for some.

But as scary as it might be to leave things behind, learn to think differently, and let go of this vision we've had for our lives, it's the only way to take hold of the plans He has for us. Anything that we hold onto, anything we allow to linger, anything that we don't toss out is going to remain a wedge between us and Him. He wants us to live as closely to Him as possible but we have to want the same because like I said, He isn't going to force us.

I've had plenty of those moments in this walk where I wondered why God felt so far away. But it's never that He's far away because He isn't. The issue is that we allow too many other things to keep us separated from Him. Our sins, our shame, our selfishness, our pride, our desires, our goals, our distractions. We can't follow God if we're chasing after other things. We can't hear God if we're busy listening to worldly voices. We have to choose what matters most to us!

God has never moved and He never will. He will always be there with open arms waiting for every prodigal child to turn back home. We have to be the ones to make that choice. We have to choose God over everything else every single day. That's the only way to actually grow closer to Him. My friends, God has some amazing gifts, blessings, plans, and promises for each of us. So do yourself a favor and get rid of anything and everything that is keeping you apart from Him!

You're only as close to God as you choose to be. The plain and simple truth is that nothing can separate us from our Father, except what we allow to do so.

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