getting closer to jesus

last night i participated in a lovely discussion with some of the ladies in my small group. we read matthew chapter 6 and focused on the last section that talks about storing treasures in heaven vs. storing treasures on earth. basically we wondered, what does it mean to store treasures in heaven and what are those treasures?

after contemplating our relationships with others, being kind, etc... Laura made the statement that she doesn't believe it has to do with any of that. but what we have to focus on is how do we get closer to Jesus? what does that look like? how can we spend our days getting closer to Him?

one of the struggles we all face is feeling the need to justify our actions to the people around us. for example, how would your neighbor react if, in response to the question "what did you do today?" you responded "i tried to get closer to Jesus." i imagine they would look confused and after a pause say something along the lines of "great, but what did you DO?"

so what do we do? a) listen. or practice listening to God's voice. what is He urging us to do? where does He want to meet us? who does He want to speak through? b) try to find Him. this is again where practice comes in. we have to practice reading God's word. thanking Him for the blessings He gives. acknowledging Him when we do have an encounter.

i'm sure there are other ways, but for right now i'm subscribing to the K.I.S.S. method (keep it simple, stupid!) in the midst of my usual rushed monday morning routine, i forced myself to sit down and read my daily dose of ozzy chambers while eating my frozen waffles. and you know what he had to say? spiritual tenacity. sticking to it with the expectation that something will happen.

i'll take that as God's way of giving me some encouragement to keep moving closer to Him this week.