How Do I Get There?
by Judith Whitehead
As I lay awake this morning, prior to my alarm going off, the above verse came into my mind. It made me cry, as I realised that I am not fulfilling this in my life. I want to be in a position where I can truly say I am fully obeying what it says in Luke 10:27, but the truth is I am not. All too easily I can become distracted by my ‘to do’ list, a programme on television which grabs my attention, or a relatively trivial problem that begins to occupy my mind for the rest of the day. There is a myriad of things which take my attention and devotion away from God.
And yet He still longs to have first place in my heart and my everyday life. It’s not because He’s a cruel task master. He isn’t. But it’s because He is my loving Heavenly Father who really knows what’s best for me and longs for me to have a deep personal relationship with Him. Presently I see myself at point A, needing to get to point B. How do I get from A to B? That is the crucial question.
Having accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour many years ago, I still struggle to always put Him first in my life. I totally identify with Paul in Romans 7:7-27, where he talks about the struggle between the sinful nature and the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you experience the same.
I’m sure the answer lies in a willingness, a persistence in prayer, an openness to the Holy Spirit, and being humble enough to acknowledge that in, and of, myself, I am totally incapable of truly loving God in the way that I should. I find it helps to pray the words of Psalm 51:10-12, ‘Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.’
Acknowledging my short fall to God and being honest with Him is an essential part of deepening my relationship with Him. I can tell Him anything. He’s not going to be shocked or surprised as He already knows exactly what’s going on in my heart. It’s easy to think He's only interested in the ‘good bits’ of my life, when He is intensely interested in the ‘nitty-gritty’ stuff too. As David poured out his innermost feelings and struggles to God in many of the psalms, so can I. It’s all too easy to feel ashamed of my past failures and mistakes and feel I have to hide from God as Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden (after they sinned and disobeyed God’s very clear instructions not to eat of the fruit from the tree of life situated in the middle of the garden). But I need to run to God, not away from Him. He sent Jesus to secure my salvation and declare me righteous in His sight because of my faith. I need to trust that His precious blood paid fully for sins committed, past, present and future.
Returning to the title of this message, ‘How Do I Get There?’ My conclusion is that it’s not by trying really hard to be perfect (which is impossible anyway), but by having a genuine, heartfelt desire and commitment to pursue a deeper relationship with God. Then I will gradually begin to obey and fulfill Luke 10:27.
Judith Whitehead Judith is married to Dougie and they have one son. Judith loves spending time with her family, including two gorgeous grandchildren and being outdoors walking in the countryside. Judith lives locally to Ellel Grange and is a part of the creativity team at Ellel Grange. Judith has a deep desire to encourage others and to help believers and unbelievers come to a place of knowing God personally and deeply for themselves.
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