Portals Into God's Presence: Just a Closer Walk with Thee

This past Sunday, during morning worship at the New Hope Baptist Church, there was a guest soloist whose song stirred and convicted my heart. He sang, "Just a Closer Walk with Thee." Sometimes, it is easy for our feet to stray from God, closer to things that do not matter. Sometimes we are walking with Jesus, but somehow or another we've lagged behind a few steps. Sometimes we get so excited about what God is doing in our lives, we run out ahead of God. But, if we take the teaching of Jesus seriously, we would know that if we seek first God's kingdom—in other words, walk as closely to God as we can through devotion, prayer, study, and service—that all other things (the stuff we sometimes chase) will be added to us (Matthew 6:33, my translation). I'm in this place (again) where I want to walk as closely to Jesus as possible, and so this song, author unknown, has really ministered to me all week long:

I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee. 

Refrain:
Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be. 

Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee. 

When my feeble life is o’er,
Time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o’er
To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

While different in style and sound than the soloist on Sunday, I absolutely love this rendition of "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" by Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton. I hope you love it, too!


Beloved, where are your feet headed? Are you walking close to Jesus, chasing other things, lagging behind, or a few steps ahead? If, like me, you've lost your footing for a while,  let's purpose to walk closely with Jesus each and every day of our lives.