A closer walk with Him

So today we head to a spiritual retreat. Our, mine and Mary's, desire is to get closer to God.

Isn't that what, ultimately, everyone has wanted since Jesus walked out of the tomb, or at least since he ascended?

Think of what it must have been like for those who were closest to him. They had walked with him, slept with him in the open, invited him to their former homes, saw him crucified for no reason whatsoever, then they saw him come back from the dead.

Certainly they thought he would stay around, like, forever. Men who die and return can stay as long as they want, right?

Then they were confused, again, by what he said. He told his disciples, "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."

Now that's what he said. It's how we live now. We live without Him. Without Jesus. No mild-mannered shepherd to walk with. We have, by Jesus' teaching, a Counselor who convicts the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. That's the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches then teaches that the Spirit teaches us about Jesus, leads us to Jesus, lives in us daily. That's who produces the fruit I wrote about just yesterday.

But the Holy Spirit, as wonderful as He is, is not a living, breathing, touchable Jesus. He can't be. That's not his role.

And therein lies the desire to be closer to Jesus. We want someone we can touch, and Jesus is simply gone to us in that regard. It's a conundrum.

I'll not be blogging tomorrow because I'll be without, I'm told, a cell phone, a laptop or a watch. Basically I'll be naked before God (hopefully not before others, but hey, I don't know how these things go). But ultimately I pray I'll be one day closer to Jesus. That's all these weary bones can manage these days.

Jesus prayed we would all be unified one day in worship of him. I believe that to be true. It's just the world keeps pulling us apart.