Close to You
When I was in Einstein, I felt protected. Most of the people that surrounded me were believers. So, relating to their daily struggles and praying for their needs was very natural. It challenged me to be close to God.
Now I’m seeing a different world around me, or should I say, the real world. I had time to share with more non-Christian and see their life as a train at full speed going nowhere. I have once again realized how much of a difference can Christ does in our life. Seeing someone, sometime a relative, submerged in problems like depression, alcohol and drugs is devastating. What make things worse is that this people had heard about Christ, and yet, they are looking elsewhere for answers. Ironically, this are the same people who that tell you “no estas en na’” meaning you are not cool, out of what is grubby at the moment.
The new in vogue phrases in Puerto Rico is “I know the Lord, but I have back slide” or “John Doe grew up in church, he has fear of the Lord” It seems like every singer that comes on TV for an interview says something like that. A preacher once said that in Puerto Rico, 1 out of 4 people is Christian, 1 is Catholic, and 2 used to go to church at some point of their life.
What is happening? Where is this 50% heading?
Si decidiera negar mi fe / If I choose to deny my faith
Y no confiar mas en El / And don’t trust Him anymore
No tengo a donde ir, no tengo a donde ir / I have no where to go, no where to go
Si despreciara en mi corazón / If I disregard in my heart
La santa gracia que me salvó / The holy grace that saved me
No tengo a donde ir, no tengo a donde ir / I have no where to go, no where to go
Jesús Adrián Romero/Cerca de Ti / Close to You
Paul, in Romans 8:35-39, raised the question, Who or What shall separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ? Neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing. That sounds like a good summary of all possible scenarios in our life.
As the verses from the song mentioned above said, where would I go if I don’t have Christ? Is there something better? Could there be a circumstance in our life, present or to come, that can hit us so hard that will take Christ out of our life? The answer should be no, but most likely you know of someone that with his/her action, has answered with a yes. Or maybe it is you who feel like giving up. It is easy to read Romans 8, but living it is a different story. We always have this eternal battle of what we see or feel and what we believe. Unfortunately, I don’t have a magic bullet to solve that. But one thing I can say, in the middle of the struggle or the joy, be close to God and people who live Christ in their life. Because only close to God you will be stand in his word and find shelter in the Rock of Ages. After all, we believe that we are aliens and strangers passing by through this earth. Just remember that “This world has nothing for me and this world has everything” (Caedmon’s Call).
Javier
