Communion with Christ

I know deeper communion with Christ is possible. Every so often a follower of Jesus refuses to follow the path trodden by the masses and heads onward and upward in fellowship with the Lord. As they climb the steep path toward the summit of God, they experience and come to understand some things the rest of us miss out on.

John Owen was such a devoted disciple. We would consider Owen to be among the Puritans. His driving passions were to mortify sin in his life and live in holiness. Owen also pursued communion with Christ above all else.

He climbed higher on the mountain of God than most and peered over the ridge to behold the glory of God in ways few others have. Could that be why his writings are still in print three hundred years after he died? They are hard to read and deep deep water for shallowness of our times. There is a weight to what Owen wrote mainly because He spent time in the weighty presence of Christ.

Owen was not an echo of other men. He wrote from a fresh heart and mind overflowing with the revelation and personal experiences of Christ. Though none of us is a John Owen, his life still points to remind us that a deeper communion with Christ is possible. There is more to know, more to experience, and more love to receive and offer in worship.

Why is it so many who sit in church do not commune with Christ consistently? Jesus is the ultimate prize. Communion with Him should be the great desire in the heart of every believer. We all know this is not the case. The masses are far too easily pleased with emotional worship, shallow feel good sermons, and casual convenient discipleship complete with a latte coffee in hand during the worship celebration.

We have dumbed church down instead of calling people to the loftier heights of deep communion with the Lord. Let me ask you a few questions as you finish reading this. How are your devotions? Do you even have them consistently? Do you commune with the Lord or dutifully fulfill your religious devotion requirement? Are you growing? Is your heart burning with more zeal for Christ year after year? Do you hunger and thirst for more of Him? Are you more in love with Him today than you were a year ago, month ago, and week ago?

Communion with Christ is inconvenient. It is also time consuming. These two things in themselves serve as great obstacles as to why many are content to worship from afar rather than to draw near to Christ and commune with Him. [James 4:8] [Ps 42:1-2]

Though the journey may be lonely. Though the way may be steep and increasingly difficult. Though the climb may be incredibly time consuming. I want to enjoy more communion with Christ. I know no other way to scale to the summit except along the trails of scripture reading and meditation accompanied with vast amounts of prayer.

I cannot be content to sit at base camp when God beckons us to explore, enjoy, and experience more of Him. I’m packing up and pointing the rest of my life to this upward climb. I may never get as high as John Owen but I will get higher than I am today. Communion with Christ lures me to a life of adventure and new revelation.