Desire v. Effort

I was just re-reading one of my books this morning, The Training of the Twelve, which, incidentally, is an awesome book. It's pretty long (545 pages, still little over 100 to go till I'm done) and some of the wording is hard to get through because it was written in the 1800's, but it is FANTASTIC. The author, A. B. Bruce, goes through the gospels and discusses all the events in them and explains them more fully. It's been really great for me because I've been able to understand them more and get a deeper meaning of how they impacted the times and how revolutionary Jesus truly was. The following excerpt comes from chapter 9, "The Galilean Crisis" in which Bruce was talking about John 6:66-71, where many people decided to leave Jesus right then and there, and Jesus asks His disciples whether they too are going to leave. Peter speaks for them (as he always seemed to do!) and said where would they go, because they knew that Jesus was the true Son of God. Bruce says this about the confidence the 12 disciples had in Jesus to not follow the crowds and fall away too:

"Such implicit confidence as the twelve had in Jesus is possible only through intimate knowledge; for one cannot thus trust a stranger. All, therefore, who desire to get the benefit of this trust, must be willing to spend time and take trouble to get into the heart of the Gospel story, and of its great Subject. The sure anchorage is not attainable by a listless, random reading of the evangelic narratives, but by close careful, prayerful study, pursued it may be for years...Those who grudge the trouble are in imminent danger of the fate which befell the ignorant multitude, being liable to be thrown into panic by every new infidel book, or be scandalized by every strange utterance of the Object of faith."

You're only as close to God as you want to be. Do you truly desire a close relationship with God, or are you okay with doing some good things but still maintain absolute control on your life? I am not asking this to be accusatory, I have to ask this of myself often. It's easy to play the card and sit in church and wax eloquent about God, but do you really *know* Him? Because it takes effort and discipline and energy, but there is no better pursuit in life. If you take the time and truly get to know Him, then you will not regret it. As Jim Elliot said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."


If a close relationship with God is a sincere desire of yours, what steps are you taking to get closer to Him today?

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."