‘Intricacies of Drawing Near’ by Lekan Asikhia
To draw near means to move close to a person. It also means bridging the gap between two or more people. God our creator wants us draw near unto him but as a result of our sins which has been creating a gap between us and Him.
Isaac in Genesis 27:21-27, asked Jacob to draw near in order to feel his hands because Esau happens to be a hairy man and a hunter with a smell of a hunter. So he asked Esau to draw near to him because he wants to do two things. Firstly, to feel him whether he is hairy or not and secondly, to smell him, this was because he was suspicious of the voice of Jacob. You need to have the knowledge of the identity of the drawing near to you. A man that God does not know cannot draw near to Him. Isaac finds it hard to identify that the voice that was speaking to him was Jacob’s because his eyes were dim.
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Psalms 139:2
This means God knows our thought even from afar. Isaac couldn’t understand the thought if Jacob, therefore, he made a mistake by blessing him, however God cannot. Men think God doesn’t know them until they come close to him, just like Jacob to Isaac. God is saying clearly that we should draw near to him.
God instructed his people (Israel) in Exodus 19:3-14, God instructed his people to draw near yet he would slaughter them if they are not sanctified. Therefore, drawing near to God requires sanctification. It also requires setting boundaries in drawing close to him. The boundaries here mean our unrighteousness. God does not hope to get close to the people of Israel because of their unrighteousness but for his love for them, He wants them to draw near even with their unrighteousness but with a boundary. Therefore, God is looking out for people that will draw close to Him without any boundary which is sin. In Luke 19:2-8, Zaccheus was a short man probably as a result of the degree of his sin. He was not a deceiver with a sinful life but a renowned sinner. He determined to draw near to Jesus for him to be delivered from sin. Sin cut shorts of a sinner…
For all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
Zaccheus took a risk in drawing near to God by climbing a tree. This shows the level of his determination to break the boundaries between him and Christ in order to mover close to Him. You need to climb a tree in order to draw near to Jesus because you cannot come close to him with your unrighteousness could be dangerous, remember Exodus 19:12, you could be slaughtered. You need to take a risk to draw near to God and stop being a deceiver. It is the degree you draw near to Jesus that He will draw near to you.
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. James 4:8
