Drifting

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When our daughter was a teenager, one of our favorite pastimes was boating. Many times, on weekends, you could find us at Long Branch Lake. My husband and my daughter both really enjoyed waterskiing, while I just went along for the ride. There was a little cove that we always liked to pull into and anchor the boat so that we could all jump in and go for a swim. If you have ever done this, you know how hard it is to stay close to the boat. One minute you are near the boat and the next minute you have drifted away from it. You have to keep swimming back to it or you are in danger of being hit by other boaters.

Our faith life is the same way. If we don’t make an effort to stay close to the Lord, it is really easy to drift away from Him. In the book of 1 Chronicles it says, “Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” (16:10).  It doesn’t say to seek His face once, and that’s good enough, does it? It says to seek His face always. So often we will talk to God on Sunday and then on Monday morning we are doing our own thing and totally forget to include God in our daily routine. When we aren’t drawing near to Him, we are drifting. What does your life look like when you are drifting? Are there bad habits that you return to when you aren’t drawing near to God?

If you have been adrift for a while, maybe it is time to swim back to the boat. In the book of James 4:7-8 it says, Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. It’s very reassuring to know that if we draw near to God then He also draws near to us. He knows our hearts and our deepest thoughts, so He also knows when we want to be close to Him. Can you imagine how much easier it would be to swim back to the boat if the boat was coming near to you? God is so good. He wants a relationship with us, and He will meet us halfway. Will you meet Him halfway? Maybe it’s time to start swimming.