One of my students wrote: “I want to learn to be closer to God in my everyday life.” An unknown author wrote a similar desire in an old spiritual:
“Just a closer walk with Thee, Grant it, Jesus, is my plea.
Daily walking close to Thee, Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.”
Throughout time, perhaps more now than ever, the busyness and pace of society works against us, yet Jesus still invites: “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
So, can a teenager or a young adult or a middle-aged adult or an old adult unplug the i-pod, turn off the cell phone, shut down the computer, switch off the television and sit down with Jesus? “As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’ ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘You are worried about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her.’”
Is it really so simple? “Only one thing is needed… ‘Me’.” If I will resist the distractions, quit worrying about so many things, and spend time with Jesus, he can teach me to walk and live. “So I say, walk in the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature… If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law… The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control… Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Gal. 5)
Jesus teaches us to walk close to the Father, just as he did on this earth. He also gives us the greatest gift, the Holy Spirit, to enable us to live in fellowship with God. Fellowship with the Father produces fruit, freedom, light, and life. “Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.”
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” I John 1:5-7