By Judy Wallace
Executive Editor’s Note: This is a new column with content provided by the National WMA. Watch for the header included here for future content.
Our purpose in life is to pursue a closer, more intimate relationship with Christ under the leadership and power of the Holy Spirit through the development of spiritual disciplines set forth in the acronym CLOSER.
It was a long engagement — one year and two months to be exact. Tommy was in Bald Knob farming, and I was finishing my senior year of college by student teaching in Fort Smith. It was hard to stay connected, but we certainly made the effort.
There were no cell phones, and to call long distance cost extra. So instead, we wrote letters. The letters were not just occasional, they were daily! We “talked” on paper and shared our daily activities. I would often beat the mailman to the mailbox to receive the precious writing straight into my hand. Immediately, I opened each letter, knowing it was from the one who loved me deeply and wanted me to spend the rest of my life with him. It was how we stayed “CLOSER” while apart.
This year, the Inspirational Resource Committee wants to share this series of articles for the purpose of helping you draw CLOSER to our God. Our responsibility, as a group, is to recommend godly resources that help you grow, mature and continue to pursue a more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. What better resource for this than the Bible! It is God’s precious letter to us. It is from the One who loves us deeply and wants us to spend the rest of our lives with Him! It is the source and foundation of many disciplines we need to pursue.
This year, we will be using the acronym CLOSER to guide our writings and more importantly, to encourage you in incorporating these spiritual endeavors into your daily lives. This is what the acronym reminds us to do:
• C — Communicate with God through prayer
• L — Learn to study and understand God’s Word
• O — Obey
• S — Store God’s Word in your heart through memorization and meditation
• E — Evangelize
• R — Renew daily
The writers for this series will be the Inspirational Resource Committee members — Valarie Fish, Susie Edgar, Jackie Ricks and me.
Join us weekly. Pray for us daily. Incorporate these disciplines regularly. It is what He has called us to do!
Here are some scriptures to read to get started — James 4:8, Isaiah 26:3, Psalm 119:10 and Matt. 5:6.
Prayer — Father, You are our Rock, our Shield, our Redeemer, Savior and Friend. You are Lord of all, our Creator, our Shepherd and Your presence is always with us. Even Your names bring peace into our lives. Plus, there is the wonder that You loved us enough to send Your Son to die for us, as unworthy as we are. How is it that You invite us into Your presence? That You long to fellowship with us? That You want us close to Your heart and partakers of Your Spirit’s power? How is it that we would dare refuse Your invitation to draw closer; to take time to study Your word, hide it in our hearts and minds and seek Your face as a daily True North to follow? We cannot follow Your words unless we know them, so help us on this journey to draw CLOSER each day to You and Your path for our lives. Help us love You more so that we may obey You fully. In Christ’s precious name, Amen.
Respond to God with your own prayer from what you have read today.
Note: CLOSER was developed by Rob Gallaty in his discipleship series Growing Up, Firmly Planted, Bearing Fruit.
