Devotion Booklets for Seasons of the Church Year Advent-Christmas Devotional - 2017 - single page | Page 42

The Lord is Near
Thursday, January 4th
Psalm 23:4
They were only separated for a moment. Mom was focusing on the shopping and making sure that she
purchased everything on her list. Suddenly, she realized that her little boy was not with her. He had to be
right around the corner. But he wasn’t in that aisle. Or the next, or the next. And that’s when the little
twinge of fear began to rise up in her heart.
The little boy had his attention captured by the row of toys and his favorite superhero. After stopping to
admire the toy for what seemed like just a moment, he ran to catch up with his mom. He looked down the
aisle… but she wasn’t there. Well, she had to be in the next aisle, but she wasn’t. Or the next aisle. And
that’s when the tears started coming.
Mom decided to backtrack her steps, and there he was. The whole time they were maybe 100 feet apart at
the most, they were near each other, but that distance for a moment seemed a bit greater to both of them
in an unfamiliar place, and with a bunch of strangers who they did not know. So she gives him a hug, she
kisses him on the top of the head, and she comforts him. “I was right here the whole time. Mommy didn’t
leave you. Mommy was nearby the whole time.”
“For you are with me,” David wrote. The Lord was more than near him. The Lord, David believed, was
actually with him.
But can that really be? We can think of many reasons why the Lord wouldn’t want to be anywhere near us.
But he’s not far away, not far away at all. He speaks to us through the Word of God, the Bible. Don’t
expect dramatic visions as his form of communication, but do expect to hear him in God’s Word. He knows
you, knows you so very well. Knows each and every sin and failure, he also knows that he paid for them
completely. He knows every anxiety, every fear, every bit of stress, and invites us to draw even nearer to
him through his Word. We treasure those words from Psalm 23. God is more than near us. He is with us.
Prayer: Sing or pray together the words of this verse from the hymn “I Lay My Sins on Jesus.”
I rest my soul on Jesus, This weary soul of mine.
His right hand me embraces; I in his arms recline.
I love the name of Jesus, Immanuel, Christ the Lord;
Like fragrance on the breezes His name abroad is poured. Amen. (CW Hymn 372, v.3)
Activity: How many Bible stories can you think of where people were reunited after they were separated
for a while? How did they respond? Relate that to the comfort of Psalm 23:4.
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