Come CloserSample

If you’ve ever stood with (or behind) a child in a supermarket checkout line, you know the moment: Just before the exit, there are all those colorful, tempting things—chocolate bars, little toys, bright chewing gum. A little paradise for kids—and at the same time, a world they’re only allowed to look at.
So close…yet out of reach: “Don’t touch. Not now. Not yours.”

That tension—seeing something, desiring it, but not being able to reach it—might be the most childlike image of how many people experience God.
He feels close. Present. Tangible. And yet, somehow…unreachable.

That’s likely how it felt for Moses.
He sees the burning bush, senses something holy is happening, and steps closer.
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals,
for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5 NIV)

Is that an invitation—or a boundary? Or both?

God is not dismissive. But He is not ordinary either.
He is holy. That means: Pure, good, entirely different from us.
So pure and good that we—with all that’s broken in us—cannot simply approach Him.
Not because God is fragile, but because we must honestly recognize: there are things that separate us from Him.

This separation was visible in the Jewish temple:
A heavy curtain divided the Holy Place (where people were) from the Most Holy Place (where God dwelled)—a protection, a barrier, a safe distance between God and man.
But when Jesus died on the cross, this curtain was torn from top to bottom.
A divine sign: The separation is over.
Not because we became better—but because Jesus bridged the distance.

He carried what separates us and opened what was long closed.
Because Jesus is enough—even for what we can barely carry ourselves.

And yet: Sometimes we internally raise the curtain again.
When we suppress guilt. When we don’t speak about what burdens us.
When we believe closeness is only for the “really good.”

But closeness to God isn’t a reward—it’s a gift. Confessing sin doesn’t mean self-condemnation. It’s like in any true relationship: We speak honestly about what stands between us—so it can be removed.

Today, you can bring to Him what separates you.
Through Jesus, “Do not come any closer” becomes “I come closer to you.”

“Jesus, what can I bring to You today—so I can be truly close again, without detours or excuses?”