Closer Walk with Thee
Undoubtedly, the end of the year is a time for reflection. Many take it as an opportunity to remember the blessings that have been bestowed upon them, and take the time to hope for further blessings in the coming year. We reflect on our failures as well, perhaps, and use resolutions to try to become better in some aspect of our lives in the New Year.
As a Seventh Day Adventist Christian, however, I wonder how many of us take the time to look back and reflect on a few simple things: Am I more Christ-like at this point than I was one year ago? Am I closer to Christ than I was? Have I grown? Or have I regressed?
Perhaps the world has fooled us into thinking that as long as we are doing well emotionally and physically, we must be in a good place spiritually as well. We are caught thinking that maybe it is fine to relax a little, not try to be as ‘Christian’ or ‘Adventist’. Perhaps we have fallen into the trap that has taken so many, that Christ allows us to do anything we want, with no recompense. But it was Christ who said “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13, 14) It isn’t supposed to be easy, and it’s not for everyone.
So I’m asking myself today, am I more Christ-like than I was one year ago? Do I love Jesus more? Do I know Jesus better? Have I done more of His work this year than ever before? Have I spent more personal time with Him? Have I taken more time to witness? More time to show love to my family and to my fellow brother and sisters? Or have I gone the other way?
Truthfully, I, myself, have gone the other way before. And friends, it is time for me to say, that it breaks my heart to see that too many of my Korean brothers and sisters have gone the other way as well. In our words, our actions, our dress, what we listen to, what we hear, what we talk about, what we watch, what we think about, we have drifted yet further away. You do not need me to tell you this. We spend more time thinking about what will make us look better on the outside, be it a car, a house, a new skirt, jewelry, more expensive shoes, than our character. We talk more about movies than Christ. We have talked about how much we do not want to be like the Pharisees, and yet, we’ve adopted the same principles. Maybe not the judgmental, legalistic aspect, but rather, the hypocritical aspect. We emphasize looking good on the outside, with perhaps, a little less regard for one-on-one inner development with Christ. Worldliness abounds, and we are embracing it.
But Christ calls us higher. He set the standard high, and told people to go higher than where they were. “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20. He then goes on in that chapter to illustrate that while before, people thought it was ok to just not kill, that hating your brother is the same thing as killing. Looking at a woman lustfully is the same thing as committing adultery. Christ was not trying to water down our spirituality; He was actually raising the standard! And yet, we insist on trying to go further away from Christ, all the while thinking we are ok, when in fact in order to drift further away, we are turning our backs on Him.
The trajectory of our spiritual journey, whether we have been in the church for 1 year or 10 years, is what matters when looking back on the past year. It is whether you are closer to Christ today. And yet, it seems we think we are simply closer to Christ because we are closer to His coming, when in fact we are becoming more un-Christ-like every year, little by little. If you took only one small step every year spiritually, and every step you took once a year was away from Christ, how do you suppose that you will end up walking to heaven? When every step takes you away from the outstretched arms of a Savior, who sacrificed all for you? Logically, this makes no sense. If you were in a relationship, and every year you moved just a little bit further away from your husband/wife, would the other person feel more loved at the end of 20 years? And yet, we expect that our Christian walks will lead us straight to heaven, when we are actively walking in the other direction. Christ will not force you to turn around. He will not use His divine strength to save you, when clearly you do not want to expend even a little energy in taking one step closer to Him every year.
We are deceiving ourselves if we think that spending less time with God in prayer, or devotions, is actually helping us because it gives us time to do more ‘good’. I am not some pastor once again telling you the virtues of devotionals. I turn, instead, to the life of Christ, our true Example. “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” Mark 1:35. Christ, God on earth, found it necessary to arise LONG while before daylight to pray. How many of us have ever done that in our lives? Once? When we weren’t on some retreat? I speak for myself here, that most of my mornings are spent hitting the alarm clock to turn it off, and rushing off to the hospital after showering. Rising a long while before the sun rises? Only if I have to. And if it’s a Sunday morning? Forget about it. If it’s a Sabbath morning? Even less likely. “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” Luke 6:12. An all-nighter to pray? You mean, not to study or write a paper, or be on-call, but to pray? This seems even less likely in my life than getting up early to pray. But that was Christ: radical, devoted, God on earth taking the time and effort to keep His connection with heaven.
We are called to this standard. We are called higher. But more importantly, we are called closer. Today, it is a challenge to me, first and foremost. I have been impacted by reflecting upon my life, and recognize my deficiency in continuing to walk away from my Savior. And in so doing, I hope you have taken the time to reflect as well. God gives us the strength to start walking towards Him purposefully. Our weakness is made perfect in His strength. His grace is sufficient. He gives us eternal life. But if we choose to continue to take those small steps away from Him, I shudder to think of the end result. Let that not be you or me. Let us look towards Christ, and next year at this time, be able to look back, and truthfully say, ‘Lord, a closer walk with thee have I walked.’
Albert Kim is currently doing his residency in Rochester, NY.