Good morning! Sometimes in the morning, I get to do one of my favorite things ever! I go quietly into Josh’s room and lay down in his bed to snuggle him. There is nothing in the world like it, especially because he is such a great snuggler! When I go in there and he notices that I’m there, he will wrap his arm around me and rub it back and forth on my back. My heart melts!
There are two things that come to mind in relation to being that close in proximity to my son.
The first thing is that when we get that close to each other and we begin talking to each other, we can smell each other’s stinky breath. I always try to keep my face in the other direction when I talk to him because I don’t want to hear him tell me my breath is disgusting.
The second thing is that when we get that close to each other, it is so nice to feel the warmth coming off of his body. He is like a furnace most of the time, and when the house is cool, it feels so good stealing all of his warmth!
This really got me thinking about our relationship with God. He wants to be close to us – He wants us to trust Him, rely on Him, love Him, and be closer to Him than anyone else. He wants us to be vulnerable with Him and let our guard down. He already knows everything there is to know about us anyway!
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”
Revelation 3:20
God is not going to force His way into our lives, He allows us to choose. We all know there is a difference between someone who feels forced to spend time with you, and someone who actually can’t wait to spend time with you. When someone doesn’t really want to spend time with you it is easy to see how disconnected they are during conversation and how distant they are in their thoughts.
Now that I have been walking with Jesus for a long time, I can honestly say that I love hanging out with Him! I can’t wait to open up the Word of God in the morning and let the Holy Spirit reveal more of God’s character to me. I love telling Him how much He means to me and how thankful I am for the opportunity to be close to Him. He already knows everything I want to say to Him, but I tell Him anyway because I want to tell Him what’s on my heart and I want to know His heart more! I love my car rides with Him as I always put on worship songs and although worship is all about Him, He always seems to minister to me as I tell Him how AMAZING He is!
But it wasn’t always like this. There were times when I was nervous to get close to Him and make myself vulnerable. I didn’t want Him to tell me that my “breath” was nasty. I didn’t want Him to emphasize how the way I reacted when someone hurt me was wrong. I didn’t want Him to remind me that the way I was behaving did not align with the principles in His Word.
And at times, I would try to “keep my face in the other direction” so that He couldn’t smell my breath. You know what I mean – I would try to avoid the things in His Word that brought conviction to the way I treated others, or the way that I was behaving. This is so ridiculous because there is nothing that is hidden from God.
“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
Hebrews 4:13
As tough as it is to come to grips with the fact that we aren’t perfect, it is so wonderful to have a God that approaches us in love. That when we choose to get close to Him, He wraps His loving arms around us and allows us to feel the warmth of His embrace!
When we feel the warmth of His embrace, it begins to draw us deeper into His presence. Over time, we will begin to be so comfortable in His presence that we won’t want to leave!
The benefits of being in close proximity to God, FAR outweigh the discomfort of being corrected and unguarded before our Creator! God is waiting for you to “snuggle” with Him! Get close, be vulnerable, and allow His warmth to permeate your life!
“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings.”
Hebrews 10:22a
Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder this morning of how much You love spending time with us! Help us to understand that there is nothing hidden from You, and instead of trying to avoid talking about the things we struggle with, choose to draw close to You and allow Your principles to spread through our lives to BE TRANSFORMED to look more like You! In Jesus Name – AMEN!
Be Transformed 