Crabtree Acres

Whatever It Takes
By Carolyn Bost Crabtree

A couple of Sundays ago our pastor was preaching on how our commitment to God should be so strong that whatever it takes to become closer to God, we should be willing for God to accomplish this in our lives. He mentioned an old gospel song that has come back around called “Whatever It Takes”. I can remember years ago when our family still lived in Versailles that I was listening to that song on a record (Yes, I meant “record” and I still have it to play on an old record player). I can remember this as if it were yesterday. I was sitting on the floor in our family room listening to the music and I began to pray that song. I know this sounds strange, but I took the words and turned them into a prayer. I believe that the Lord can use many ways to reach us – music among them.

This particular song touched me deeply at that moment and I have prayed it a number of times since that time as well. In fact, when Pastor was preaching that Sunday the words to the song came back to me and God told me in my heart that praying that once or twice is not enough. I found myself convicted that I had not prayed it lately. He reminded me that “Whatever It Takes to Draw Closer to You, Lord” had not been strong enough in my life lately. I prayed it again and I admit that I feared a little what the requirements would be for me to be closer to Him.

A few years after the first time I prayed the song, I looked back on our lives as a family and found that God had required of us everything I had prayed in the lyrics. There are too many to cover in this devotional, but parts of the song say:

Yes, when we become serious about God and drawing close to Him, He will require sacrifice and the cost may seem great in the beginning. The results, however, are priceless and the sacrifice becomes much more gain than we can ever imagine. I want to encourage us all, including myself, to do all that is necessary to draw closer to Jesus Christ our Lord and to each other. Our lives will never be the same and “joy comes in the morning.

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