Near

A few days ago, while I glancing around a room, I noticed an interaction between a father and his daughter.  The father picked up his little girl and she gently placed her head on his shoulder, clinging to him as hard as she could.  I couldn't help but notice the peacefulness and security the child was exhibiting in her behavior.  She knew that she was safe in the arms of her dad.

Last Sunday, I had the wonderful opportunity to fellowship deeply with my church family.  Spiritually, we united our hearts and minds and spent the day focusing on Jesus Christ.  At the end of the night, we sang Draw Me Close together, and I felt spiritually near to every person, but more importantly, I felt near to Christ.  My heart felt near to my Father in the way that the daughter's heart must have felt with her father.

Here, I am reminded of the refrain to the old hymn, Draw Me Nearer,

Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord
To Thy precious bleeding side.

Throughout my studies last week, the Lord showed me a wonderful verse that expresses what it means to draw near to Him.  In a psalm of ascent (a psalm sung by a pilgrim traveling towards Jerusalem, anxiously awaiting to be in the presence of the Lord), the sons of Korah wrote these words, 

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside.  I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.  Psalm 84:10

Scripture indicates that the sons of Korah were gatekeepers in the temple of Jerusalem (1 Chr. 6:22, 9:17-32; 26:1; Psalms 42-49; 84, 85, 87, 88).  This would mean that they guarded the door to make sure that nothing inappropriate came in, and that things remained orderly.  Imaginably, they would stand and guard the doors for hours.  In this context, they weren't necessarily inside the temple, but they were close enough to experience God's presence.

It was this type of job that inspired the sons of Korah to write the words stated above.  They would rather stand at the door of the temple for one day, close to God, than spend thousands anywhere else, away from Him.  This is a remarkable illustration of what it means to thirst after the presence of God.

Today, this verse has been reversed.  The doors into the presence of God are unguarded (spiritual irreverence), and the temple itself is non-existent.  This can be translated to many common day churches.  Man would rather spend thousands of days in the world, than one second in the church.  This is expressed every week when many choose to forgo worship for sleep, sports, or anything else of temporal value.

Like the daughter clinging to her father, we need to understand the value of what it means to have a God whose presence we can be found righteous in.  Thanks to Jesus Christ, we have been deemed saints in His sight, and can ascend to His holy mountain, marching behind the one who claimed victory over the power of sin.

As you go today, may your prayer mimic the psalmist's, and may your song be like the hymn; "draw me nearer blessed Lord."