It is not surprising . . . that a very common temptation of sincere people seeking God, if they are humble and see much of the truth about themselves, is the temptation to doubt whether they are all right with God, or whether He really accepts them. They can point out to themselves and their confessors all kinds of faults and failings, perplexities and fears, and many kinds of abject poverty from a spiritual point of view. And they think that if they are to be able to come close to God, they really must improve a great deal before they can hope much from Him.
In fact, however, it is not sanctity that brings us close to God. It is being close to God that brings us sanctity. We do not earn our way into the presence, appreciation, and love of God. What we do have to have if we are to come to God is good will and the desire to come to Him. If we are deliberately sinful, repentance is needed in order to restore good will, the desire to be right with God, and we have to want God Himself. We have to have a thirst for God. We all have got that, although it can be misinterpreted and thought to be a desire for something created. But if we really want God, to be fed on spiritual food, the food of spiritual life, then all we need is to admit that desire to ourselves for what it is and ask God to satisfy it. Ask Him to satisfy it not in answer to our success or goodness, but to do it free of charge, to give us the spiritual free gift which we call grace.
[God says through His prophet] “Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty, though you have no money, come! Buy corn without money and eat, at no cost, wine and milk.”
The food and drink that we receive at no cost under the covenant God has made with us is the Body and Blood of Christ, the food of life, the food that infuses Jesus’ life and love into us. It is not a reward for virtue or the result of our holiness. It is a free gift. It has to be received into a humble, receptive heart and one that so trusts Jesus’ unlimited love for it that it is not discouraged by its faults and failings. . .
We are very close to God, very much loved by God. We have nothing to fear and everything to expect. “A man who comes to me,” Jesus said, “will not go away hungry, and no one who believes in me will thirst.” We must believe; we must live by faith. Then all the wonderful and deeply consoling truths of the Gospel will be verified for us. We will experience the love of Christ for us. And we shall find that nothing, nothing at all, can come between us and His love and care for us.
