December 29 Daily Devotional

Take more time to be holy

How do I keep near to God? ... First of all by a life of prayer.... If I realize truly who He is, I shall want to talk to Him. The man who really keeps near to God is the man who is always talking to God. We must resolve to do this; we must decide that we will not allow the world to control us any longer, but that we are going to control it, and our time, and our energy and everything else.

Then in addition to prayer, there is Bible reading ... read and study the Scriptures.

Next comes public worship. It was when he went into the sanctuary of God that [the Psalmist—Psalm 73] found peace and rest for his soul. And we have often had the same experience. If we want to keep near to God, we must not only pray in private, but also with others, we must not only read and study the Word in private but also come and do so with others. We help one another, we bear one another’s burdens.

Then there is meditation and taking time to think. Throw the newspaper on one side and think about God and your soul.... We do not talk enough to ourselves. We must tell ourselves that we are in His presence, that we are His children, that Christ has died for us and that He has reconciled us to God. We must practise the presence of God, and realize it, we must talk to Him, and spend our days with Him....

The final thing, of course, is obedience, because if we disobey Him we break contact. Sin always means a breaking of the connexion, it means going far away from God. So the two rules are, to seek God and then to obey Him. And if we should sin. so breaking the contact and communion, we immediately re-establish it by confessing our sins, knowing that ‘the blood of Jesus Christ his Son’ cleanses us from all unrighteousness.... ‘For me, nearness to God is good for me.’ May we know Him and dwell with Him and spend the remainder of our days ... in the sunshine of His face.

Faith on Trial, pp. 124–5