Jerusalem Does Not Draw Near to God
The prophet Zephaniah points out something else that Jerusalem had gotten wrong. Let’s read 3:1-2 again: “Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God.” (Zephaniah 3:1-2 NIV11)
So the people of God in this city stopped drawing near to Him. They were nominally religious people, but not actually close to God in their lives. They probably even spoke about God a lot, and maybe even did religious things, but they didn’t draw near to him.
Draw Nearer Daily
Last week I spoke about claiming that God is your desire but living two worlds apart from Him. And really, the responsibility is ours to get close to God. Not to say that He is standing back and waiting for our invitation. No, He is already at the door knocking, but we’ve got to open the door and let him in. Or to use another picture, He is already the one calling our phone, but we’ve got to pick it up and answer it.
Drawing near to Him, then, is drawing nearer to His already outstretched hand.
In fact, think about this: perhaps everything that happens in your life is essentially an outstretched hand from God! Think about the blessings you enjoy. Every meal – an outstretched hand from God. Every MB of data – an opportunity to draw near to God. The smile of a loved one, the warm blanket you sleep under, the sun shining down on you today – these are all God-given blessings which give us the opportunity to draw near to Him, to thank Him, to love Him, to worship Him.
And think about your struggles, your troubles. Aren’t they also opportunities to grab hold of the outstretched hand of God? If we go back to Zephaniah’s day, God eventually allowed Babylon to take over Jerusalem. Why? Because perhaps by doing that, the people would finally draw near to Him! Perhaps their time of exile was, in the greater picture, an opportunity for the people to see God’s outstretched hand, when their own prosperity and comfort had blinded them to it.
Respond to God
God wants to draw us to himself. He wants a relationship with you and me. He reaches out – are we drawing near?
Today friends, don’t make the mistake Jerusalem did. Draw near to God. And if you are in your own time of exile and difficulty, draw near to God all the more! He is longing for that closeness with you, but you’ve got to respond to His invitation. He won’t force you.
I pray that your day will be a day of much inner peace, because you didn’t ignore God’s outstretched hand, but drew near to Him with all your heart.
