“Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, and give thanks to His holy name.” Psalm 30:4

Last Sunday, Pastor David McBurney encouraged my congregation to draw nearer to Christ…just believe. That point has been on my mind all week as there have been times and areas in my life when my closeness with Christ has been a mile apart; and past history was being repeated as I was guilty of going in the wrong direction. Father, we come before You today and acknowledge that it is Your holiness that draws us to You. And it is that lack of holiness in ourselves that brings from within us such a hunger to know You better and be much closer to You. We affirm with the Apostle Paul, that our determined purpose is that we may know Jesus…much better; that we may progressively become more intimately acquainted with Him. Oh, Lord, that is what we want and more important, that is what we need. We live in a sinful, fallen world that is adrift, out of control and broken, there is something about Your character that draws us closer, warms the coldness of our hearts and thankfully breaks our stubborn wills. And we stand before You, our holy God, acknowledging that You are pristine, free of corruption, without a hint of sin or transgression. We've never known a Father like You, as good as our earthly fathers may have been. We've never known one so full of compassion and grace and love and mercy. Introduce us again to that day. Remind us of it again and again, especially when we fail and see ourselves so unworthy after what path we have chosen to follow in this fallen world. Remind us that none of that blocks us from Your wondrous forgiveness. Thank You Father. In the name of Jesus, Your Son and our Savior, we pray. Amen.