The planet Mercury is hot, whereas Pluto is cold. That’s because Mercury is close to the sun and Pluto is a long way off. A planet’s temperature and climate are determined by its proximity to the sun. And this is like our spiritual life too. As children of God, our spiritual temperature is determined by how close we are to Jesus. We can often wish that we were closer to God. But the truth is that we’re as close to Him as we desire to be, decide to be, and discipline ourselves to be. Our pursuit of God reveals our passion for God – or the lack of it. The psalmist wrote: ‘My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek’ (Psalm 27:8 NIV). We should be wanting to get to know Him, and to see Him. And when we search for Him, He promises us that we’ll find Him. He doesn’t hide Himself away from us. The Bible says: ‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart’ (Jeremiah 29:13 NIV). The Bible also says: ‘Come near to God and he will come near to you’ (James 4:8 NIV). In both of these verses, we have to do something. When we seek Him and come near to Him, He comes near to us. He doesn’t force us into relationship with Him, we have to want it and go after it. And the nearer we get to Him, the more on fire for Him we’ll be. So let’s keep ourselves close to Him, and keep our spiritual temperature high.

What Now?

What makes you feel close to God? Do some of those things throughout the week ahead.