Today’s Gospel

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. - James 4:8

Reflection

As Christians, we should often quiet our hearts before God and get close to Him—this is the way to maintain a normal relationship with God. When we are willing to come before God and pray to Him with a sincere heart, He will listen to our prayers and enlighten us, so that we can understand His will, His requirements, and more of the truth. This shows us God’s faithfulness, and His sincerity toward people who draw near to Him. In addition, we need to know that God can see deep into the heart of man. So we shouldn’t use our mouths to get close to God or use nice-sounding words to muddle through and deceive Him. This kind of behavior is the hypocritical behavior of the Pharisees, which is detested by God. Therefore, when we draw near to God, we should have a heart that fears Him, pray to Him and look to Him with a sincere heart, be obedient and reasonable before God, share our innermost thoughts with Him, entrust our actual difficulties to Him, and seek His enlightenment and illumination in His words. Moreover, we should come often before God, sing hymns to praise Him and contemplate His love. All of these are the behavior of drawing near to God. When God has seen our sincerity, He will guide us so that we can have the accurate way of practice in all difficulties and keep a normal state before God. God says, “All those before Me who sincerely search for Me, who have hearts that hunger and thirst for righteousness—I will enlighten you, reveal to you, allow you to see Me with your own eyes and grasp My will in person; My heart will surely be revealed to you, that you may understand. You must practice that which I enlighten within you according to My words; otherwise, you will be judged. Follow My will, and you will not lose your way.”