Since the time when man (and woman) was ejected from the garden, there have always been people, though certainly not all people, who have wanted to return to the closeness and intimacy that they first had with the Lord. The question is heard repeatedly, “How do I get back to where man once was with God? What steps can I take that will heal the breach in the relationship?”
The Father has made both Old and New Testament answers for that plea.
The Old Testament answer is found in Micah 6:6-8
“With what shall I come to the Lord
And bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?
Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams?
In ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?”
The New Testament answer is found in John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Unfortunately, one often finds that the instructions of Scripture are easier read than done, so if you will allow me, I would like to offer a sort of supplement to the Biblical prescription.
There is a famous old joke (famous at least in New York) where when someone asks, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” the inevitable answer is, “Practice, practice, practice!” It has been the go-to answer since the 1950’s.
In the 1600’s there was a man named Nicholas Herman who was self-described as large and awkward with a tendency to break things. He joined himself to a Catholic monastery thinking “that God would make him suffer for his awkwardness, but he later bore witness that God had fooled him since he had never found anything but joy and satisfaction in the monastic life”. He spent roughly fifty years in the monastery first working in the kitchen and later doing sandal repair.
Although he found the drudgery of the kitchens to be one of his least favorite activities, he purposed in his heart very early on to engage in what has come to be known as “practicing the Presence of God”, which boiled down to its essence simply means that regardless of the time of day or what task he had been assigned, Nicholas Herman (or as he was so named by his Order, Brother Lawrence) would acknowledge God’s presence as though God were right there with him (which indeed He was).
He would talk with Him, ask Him questions, sing Him psalms and hymns and to do all that was required of him and even that which was not required simply as a labor of love for God.
“That in order to form a habit of conversing with God continually, and referring all we do to Him, we must at first seek Him with some diligence: but that after a little care we should find that His love inwardly draws us to Him without any difficulty.”
From the letters of Brother Lawrence
The Scriptures tell us in Hebrews 11:16
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
Brother Lawrence found the very real truth in that passage. As he practiced being in His presence; as he undertook every task as a labor of love and devotion, he found God to be right there, blessing him beyond his wildest expectations.
God is the rewarder and He is the reward. The treasure is there, and it can be had, but it isn’t easy!
How do we draw near to God? How do we get back to where we once belonged?
The answer is, “Practice, practice, practice!”
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