Pursuing God in Quarantine

For the past five Sundays the church I pastor has been unable to gather physically in worship because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We do not yet know how many more weeks it will be before we are able to gather again. So what should the believer do when we can’t gather as a church? It seems to me that this is a good time for us to focus on our personal relationships with God.

The stuff we do at church helps strengthen your relationship with God. We give you tools and support to help you grow and connect with God personally. But sometimes Christians come to church and put all the tools in their tool belt and then leave and never put them to use. There’s a lot of value to what we do here at church corporately, and right now you aren’t able to get some of what you need as believers. You can’t get some of the fellowship and support that the church would normally give you. I’m not minimizing that, but it’s important that we remember that Jesus didn’t die so you could listen to sermons; He died to give you direct, personal access to God.

Matt 27:50-51a teaches us this. "And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." This curtain was symbolic of the separation between God’s presence and His people. When Jesus died on the cross that curtain was torn in two to show that Jesus’ death gives you direct access to God. This access to God’s presence is the most precious gift you have ever been given and yet many of you take it for granted.

Even when we can't meet as a church, you can still meet with God. You don’t have to go to a temple or a church building to enter His presence. You can commune with Him anytime, anywhere. But how many of you are wasting this opportunity! You waste the Word that He labored to place in your hands. It sits on your shelf collecting dust. You waste the great privilege of entering His throne room in prayer. You don't think you have time for that. And you waste the opportunity to bless Him daily with wholehearted worship, adoration and praise because doing so makes you feel uncomfortable. Don't waste your greatest privilege in life, Christian. Don't miss out on having a living, vibrant, and personal relationship with God. Pursue Him! Especially now when you are cut off from so much of the Christian life, don't cut yourself off from God.