"Just a closer walk with Thee,
grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
daily, walking close to Thee,
let it be, dear Lord, let it be."
- Author Unknown
grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
daily, walking close to Thee,
let it be, dear Lord, let it be."
- Author Unknown
The refrain of this song has been tirelessly chugging through my thoughts for many days now; I sing it when I wake up, and I sing it when I go to sleep. I hear it's message in every sermon I listen to, and I read it on every page that I turn. In short, this is something that the Lord has really been impressing upon my life; the need for a closer walk with Him. The need to lose my life so that I might gain it, the need to decrease so that He might increase. It is this need that has driven me to a deeper understand of the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus, the ultimate example of a close walk with God and a yieldedness to the Holy Spirit.
Hebrews 5:7-9, speaking of Christ, says: "who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him" If the Father could will that the gift of salvation be offered to the world any other way than by His life, Christ wanted to know. In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus cried out to His father "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." and again He prayed "O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done." Christ's life always reflected the will of the Father, and He died on the cross bearing our sin just as the Father had asked Him to do. That is what the verse in Hebrews means when it say that He "learned obedience" and that He was "perfected." It is not that He was morally perfected or that He had at some point been disobedient and now learned obedience, but that His ministry, His purpose for coming to earth was proven throughout His life, and made perfect, or completed, in His death.
It is Christ's example, the one of obedience unto death (Philippians 2:8), that we are called to follow in order to have a closer walk with God. Romans 13:14 tells us to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ" and to "make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." This means that we must put off our sinful works and start doing the work of Christ. We must stay as far from evil and as close to the Lord as we possibly can. Christ, in daily experience, must be put on so that we can live a life where we are not seen, but He is seen working through us; a life where He is given all the glory. It is our contribution to His Kingdom that will be remembered, not the glory that we amass for ourselves.
A close walk with God is manifest by a life lived in complete submission to His will and to the working of His Spirit. It is a life that works only where it sees the Lord at work. It is a life where success is not measured by numbers, but by the effect it has produced in the lives of others. A close walk with God is learning to do things His way instead of our way.
Hebrews 5:7-9, speaking of Christ, says: "who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him" If the Father could will that the gift of salvation be offered to the world any other way than by His life, Christ wanted to know. In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus cried out to His father "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." and again He prayed "O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done." Christ's life always reflected the will of the Father, and He died on the cross bearing our sin just as the Father had asked Him to do. That is what the verse in Hebrews means when it say that He "learned obedience" and that He was "perfected." It is not that He was morally perfected or that He had at some point been disobedient and now learned obedience, but that His ministry, His purpose for coming to earth was proven throughout His life, and made perfect, or completed, in His death.
It is Christ's example, the one of obedience unto death (Philippians 2:8), that we are called to follow in order to have a closer walk with God. Romans 13:14 tells us to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ" and to "make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." This means that we must put off our sinful works and start doing the work of Christ. We must stay as far from evil and as close to the Lord as we possibly can. Christ, in daily experience, must be put on so that we can live a life where we are not seen, but He is seen working through us; a life where He is given all the glory. It is our contribution to His Kingdom that will be remembered, not the glory that we amass for ourselves.
A close walk with God is manifest by a life lived in complete submission to His will and to the working of His Spirit. It is a life that works only where it sees the Lord at work. It is a life where success is not measured by numbers, but by the effect it has produced in the lives of others. A close walk with God is learning to do things His way instead of our way.
"I am weak but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I'll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee."
- verse 1, 'Just a closer walk with Thee'
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I'll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee."
- verse 1, 'Just a closer walk with Thee'
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