Close to God's Heart
February 16, 2015
Hello, Children of God!
This past weekend, the weather has been in the news for much
of the country, and it’s not over yet.
Those of us living in Central Virginia have been told that up to 10
inches of snow may not seem like much.
To a region that is not accustomed to it, 10 inches can be paralyzing. Winter can be tough. In the midst of the storms, we hear the voice
of One calling us to “Come near to God and He will come near to you” (James 4:8, NIV). Let’s spend a few moments coming near to God.
1. Read: John
1:1-18. I usually read this poetic
introduction to the Gospel of John on Christmas Eve and Epiphany. Today, as we approach Ash Wednesday and the
Season of Lent, I am struck by words that appear in verse 18. The NRSV translates this verse in this
way: “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the
Father’s heart, who has made him known.”
2. Reflect:
I love the phrase that describes Jesus as
being “close to the Father’s heart.” A
more literal translation of this verse goes something like this: The only Son, himself God, the one who is in
the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.”[1] This is a relationship of intimacy, of
relationship.
Jesus spoke more about this relationship
when He told a group gathered around Him at the Temple, “The Father and I are
one” (John 10:30). Unfortunately, those listening to Him that
day could not understand, and they threatened to stone Him (see v. 31).
Sadly, I doubt that we understand Jesus any better than they did.
We, too, are invited to enter into that
same sort of relationship with God.
Jesus prayed for His followers (that includes us!) that we “may all be
one. As you, Father, are in me and I am
in you, may they also be in us…” (John
17:21).
That language may be difficult for us to
understand. That’s part of the reason I
am drawn to the words “close to the Father’s heart.” The Father sent the One who was closest to
His heart because God wanted to draw all of us close to His heart “For God so loved the world that he gave” the
One close to His heart “so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but
may have eternal life.”
So, I repeat the invitation that I began with
today. Let us come near to our God, who
promises to come near to us. We, too,
can be close to the heart of God.
3. Pray: “O Jesus, blest Redeemer, sent from the heart
of God, hold us who wait before thee near to the heart of God.”[2]
Copyright © 2015 by Thomas E. Frost. All rights reserved.
[1]
Robert H. Mounce and William D. Mounce, The
Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament, Copyright © 2011 by Robert H.
Mounce and William D. Mounce. Reprinted
in BibleGateway.com at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A1-18&version=MOUNCE. Accessed on February 16, 2015.
[2]
Cleland B. McAfee, “Near to the Heart of God,” in The United Methodist Hymnal, (Nashville: The United Methodist
Publishing House, 1989), 472.
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