Draw Nearer

 “Active shooter! Active shooter!”The screams sends frantic shoppers ducking for cover. Unfortunately, you’re one of the dozens of people trapped in the store. You hear the sound of gunfire as you crouch down at the end of an aisle. Suddenly, an eerie silence engulfs the store as the gunman reloads. You think about running but the brief respite ends as bullets began to pierce the air. The thud of army boots get louder and louder as the deranged gunman gets closer and closer… no time to run. No time to pray. The scope of his gun has found you. 

I apologize if my scenario upset anyone, but given the recent mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store I need you to really appreciate how fragile your life is. Whether it’s getting shot, a car accident or cancer, our lives can end at any moment. It’s not something we like to think about, but tragedies like the school shooting at a Texas elementary school which ended the lives of 19 children and 2 adults, are stark reminders for us to stop taking our time here on earth for granted. We go about our daily lives focused on everything except our relationship with God. 

You disagree? Compare the amount of time you spend on your phone to the time you spend reading the Bible. Compare the effort you put into getting to work on time to going to church. Many of us don’t even attend church once a week but we’re at work every day. Our actions tell God he’s not number one in our life. We put our families, our job and our social life first. Who do you think gave you the job? Who do you think gave you the people you love? I suggest you look at your relationship with God in the same way you do with people. 

Relationships require good communication but we pray to God as if we’re reciting lines. God wants us to open ourselves up and express our thoughts and feelings. He doesn’t need lofty words. He wants us to be humble and admit we’re broken and we need him. When you’re in a good relationship you don’t just talk to the person when you need something, yet we pray to God like he’s an ATM. We want our blessings on our time and if we don’t get it, we began to doubt him. 

When you’re in a good relationship you also help each other. We pray to God to give us what we want but do you help God by spreading the gospel? We want God’s protection but do you defend the faith? I’m just as guilty as the next person. At times I treat God as if he were an afterthought. As the tragedies of the past week have shown life is too precarious. Time is not on our side but God is. Study daily, pray earnestly and draw nearer to him. 

Think about it.