Nearer, Still Nearer

Jesus said in John 12: 32, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.”

So many times we feel alone and forgotten by God. So many times we wonder where He is as we go through trial and difficulty. So many times we feel driven to our knees by circumstances that are beyond our control and frightening and crushing.

So many times the very thing that we are dreading is the thing that allows us to be drawn toward Jesus.

The thought that our Savior in His mercy actively thinks on us in our trial and draws us to Him like a mother gathering her chicks under her wings is so very comforting.

So many times we feel like tossed about without a sail or oars on the open sea with no help. How wonderful it is to know that Jesus draws us to Him in spite of life’s circumstances and in spite of our own difficulty in obeying His call to come to Him.

How immensely comforting it is to know that He not only asks us to follow Him but He gives us the ability to do so by drawing us to Him, pulling us closer, like a magnetic field, like a driving wind, like gravity, pulling us inherently, firmly, incessantly.

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. The things that I would do I do not the things that I wish I would not do I do oh who will save me from this wretched body of death!

Jesus will. If we let Him, He will do what He has promised. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the one that will do the good work in us if we let Him.

And it is not without a cost, not without effort. And He put forth the most Supreme effort that any could on our behalf. He left nothing on the table. He left no stone unturned. He did to the uttermost anything and everything that must be done in order to ensure our Salvation, to ensure that we had every means necessary acting in our lives so that we could be drawn to Him.

He has done everything that needed to be done in order for us to be saved. Our part is to accept it. To Crown Him King Of Our Lives, follow Him, to allow Him to work in us. To surrender.

When Jesus said those beautiful words, the promise of drawing us unto Him, He was talking about being lifted up on the cross, about His suffering and death on the cross.

As you meditate on these words of deeper and deeper surrender take a moment and rededicate your life and talents to the Lord who gave all for you so that you could have all happiness and joy forever.

https://hymnary.org/text/nearer_still_nearer_close_to_thy_heart
https://hymnary.org/text/nearer_still_nearer_close_to_thy_heart#Author
https://hymnstudiesblog.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/quotnearer-still-nearerquot/

“Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.”
Revelation 1:7