Closeness is the key.



Have you ever looked through a keyhole to see what is on the other side of a locked door?

Some years ago, I was with a friend going around what is left of Swindon railway works. As some of you might know it was closed in 1986 with part of it being converted into a shopping outlet whilst another part now houses the Steam Museum. We came to one of the buildings that was separate from both the shops and the museum, but it had at some time been part of the old works as there were still rails going up to a big door. Naturally we were interested in what the building had been and more importantly what it was now being used for. It wasn’t long until we spied a keyhole to look through. The sight that met us was quite unexpected, it was filled with all sorts of old railway vans and wagons and other bit of old railway equipment that in some cases dated back to before World War Two. To this day I have no idea who it belonged to, but one thing was for sure we would have both dearly loved to have gone in there and investigated further.

For Christians, Jesus is the only one who has saved us from an eternity in hell through His death and resurrection. So where does this Christian life go from there? I think it can be summed up in one sentence that has been told to me over and over by older and wiser believers, it’s this:

‘Keep close to the Lord.’

If I go back to the story above, as I said we would have dearly loved to have got hold of a key to that building, just to get in among all those bits and pieces, it would have been a mini voyage of discovery. The thing is that Jesus has already opened that door into the presence very of God. In turn He has also provided us with so many means by which to get closer to Him through His word, spending time with Him in prayer and actively seeking fellowship with other believers. In turn we can deepen our relationship with the Lord and discover more about Him and to above all else know His voice speaking into our lives. As Jesus said in John 10 v27:

‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.’

Yes, there are going to be days when we just go through the routine of these means of deepening our relationship with God – just like going around a museum and you already know about the exhibits. This can be caused by so many different things, and they will affect our walk with God in different ways. However, I have found that during those times persistence is the key and that there will always come that moment no matter how far off you might feel God is, you like one of those sheep will hear His voice speaking to you. How will you know though – well its because you have already put the time in previously and recognise that voice as a familiar one that hasn’t forgotten you.

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