How Can We Grow Closer to God in 2025? (Part 1)

Spend More Time in His Word.

Photo by Jeremy McKnight on Unsplash

It is an honor and a privilege to write for my Lord.

I am extremely thankful to the Quitman FreePress for their continued support in allowing me to serve God in this way. I submitted my first newspaper article in December of 2019 and this article serves as the first of 2025. I appreciate all of you who read these articles on a weekly basis and I truly hope they have been, are, and will be helpful for your walk with the Lord.

With that being said, this article begins a brand new series of articles to kick off the new year! Our goal over the next several weeks is to ask and answer the question: “How can we grow closer to God in 2025?”

We will examine some very practical ways in which we can improve our spiritual lives to the glory of God.

An Illustration.

If we want to grow closer to the God of the Word, we must invest quality time in the Word of God! An illustration I like to use is as follows:

A husband and wife recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. A few weeks after the celebration, the wife noticed that there was a separation in the truck in which they were riding. She made the comment to her husband that when they first started dating, they sat very close to each other. Even after they were married for some time, she remembers that they were extremely close. Over time, she realized a distance and asked him, “What happened to us. Why are we further apart now than when we first started dating?” Her husband smirked and said, “I’m not sure, but what I do know is this: I’m not the one who moved!”

When it comes to one’s closeness to God, if and when there is a distance, we can be assured that God is not the One Who moved!

Reading and Doing God’s Word.

God’s Word is living, active, and has the ability to make us spiritually complete (Heb. 4:12; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). To ensure that we are growing closer to God, we must spend time reading, studying, meditating, and applying His Word to our lives!

As the new year begins, I know several will begin a new “read through the Bible in a year” program. While this is a wonderful endeavor, we must make sure that we are not just reading, but reading with the intention of applying and transforming our hearts and minds (Jas. 1:22; Col. 1:9-11; Rom. 12:1-2)!

We must be more than “daily Bible readers,” we must strive to be “daily Bible doers!”

The Blessed Man in Psalm 1.

As we consider the importance of spending time in God’s Word, we want to examine the example of the “Blessed Man” of Psalm One. Consider what the Bible says about this man:

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper” (Psalm 1:1-3).

It was not an accident that this man was close to God. He was intentional about not only spending time in God’s Word but applying it to his life! Careful in His Walk.

Careful in His Walk.

Notice first of all that he was careful in his walk. He did not “walk in the counsel of the ungodly,” meaning he did not follow the crowd or strive to please men (Gal. 1:10). He did not “stand in the path of sinners” which shows he did not “stand” for unrighteousness nor did he “sit in the seat of the scornful.”

Taking a closer look, we notice that the Holy Spirit is emphasizing the progression in the growth of this godly man. The words “walk, stand, and sit” imply action. The blessed man chose the right actions in all three cases because he chose to spend his time “meditating in the Law of the Lord.”

Concentrates on God’s Word.

The Psalmist explains that the “Blessed Man” meditated in the Law of the Lord “day and night,” which shows that the man spent quality time in the Word! Notice also that he “delighted” in spending time in God’s Word (Psalm 40:8; 119:16, 24, 35, 47, 70, 77, 143, 174).

By doing this, he was able to grow closer to God while creating separation between him and the world. When we spend more time in God’s Word we will spend less time focusing on the things of this world.

The “Blessed Man” was careful in his walk because he concentrated on God’s Word.

Complete in His Work.

Third and finally, this man was complete in his work. The Bible says that he was “planted by the rivers of water” and “brought forth fruit.” As one preacher put it, “he was satisfied by the Word and situated by the waters!”

He was “fruitful” in that he was bearing good fruit for God which is required of His children (John 15:8). The word picture of him being “planted like a tree” shows stability and a desire to stay close to God.

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I hope this article will encourage all of us to draw closer to God in 2025 by spending more time in His Word.

Next week, we will discuss the importance of spending more time in prayer.

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Drew Suttles is a minister for the Quitman church of Christ in Quitman, Georgia, and one of my best friends in this world. They live-stream all their Bible classes and sermons on their YouTube channel.

Drew also hosts the “Weathering the Storm” podcast on the Scattered Abroad Network. Drew talks about facing life’s challenges as a child of God. His podcast will be a blessing to your life.