You Are Near to God
Who are you close to?
Verse of the Day
‘But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.’
Today’s Devotional
What is the difference between near and far?
The obvious answer is distance. There is a difference between physical distance and relational distance. Have you ever been in the same room with someone but you could just feel that there was a disconnect between you and the other person? That’s relational distance.
Jesus came to bring us back to God. He came to close the gap between a holy God and sinful humans. Jesus came to fix the relational distance that existed between you and God.
God is perfect and holy and cannot be in the presence of sin. The sacrifice of Jesus and your belief in Him makes you righteous. I have never understood that, because I still struggle with my humanness. But the righteousness extended to us in Jesus does not mean that we are perfect. It means that we have now been granted right standing with God. It means that we can now be near to God. God now can be and wants us to be in His presence.
We don’t always feel near to God. We don’t always believe that God is near to us. But part of our identity is Who we are united with. Look at today’s verse again. You are united with Jesus. And that unity with the Son of God brings you into nearness with Father God. With that nearness comes power. And love. And all the other beautiful characteristics of God that He so willingly pours into your life. All because of Jesus.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How are you united with Jesus?
How have you felt God was distant?
How can you accept that God is near to you, right now in this moment?
How does God’s nearness and your unity with Jesus affect your identity?