You’ve probably gone through something like this at some point. You have a close friend who lives near you (or works with you, attends the same church, goes to school with you, etc.). The day arrives when your friend moves away (leaves the company, church, school, etc.).

Promises are made that you’ll still be close friends. Perhaps that lasts for a while, but as time passes, contact is less frequent. The closeness is no longer there. The day may come when your friend calls and says, “What happened? We used to be so close but now we hardly even speak anymore.” Rather than hurt your friend’s feelings, you may choose the typical meaningless reply (“Things have been so busy … you know how it is.”) but what you really want to say is, “Hey, who moved? I’m still in the same place I was before — you’re the one who moved away. Why would you expect our relationship to be unchanged?”

In 2 Nephi 7, Jacob shares a prophecy (from Isaiah 50) in which God scolds Israel. Before getting into the scolding part, the Lord begins by asking Israel questions like “Did I cast you off? Did I sell you to someone? Has my arm gotten shorter that I can no longer reach out to you?” Or, did you do this to yourself? In other words, “Who moved? You or me?”

On the day of our baptism, we’re perhaps as close to God as we can be. We can’t get enough of church; we’re anxious to read the Word of God; we pray about everything; we tell everyone we can about the goodness of God in our lives.

Then some time passes. We don’t feel so close to God anymore. We may be tempted to ask the Lord, “Why don’t I feel the same connection with you? Why aren’t my prayers being heard? Why have you turned your back on me?” The Lord’s response may be something like this:

• Who can’t seem to find time to attend church anymore?
• Whose scriptures are gathering dust on the shelf?
• Who only prays when they want something?
• Who never mentions or thinks of God outside of church?

In other words — who moved?

The scriptures tell us that God does not change, so if anybody is moving away from the other, it is us moving away from God. The good news is that the opportunity to move back toward God is always available. We can always rededicate our lives to the Lord, eliminating the things that come between us and Him, lowering the priority on activities that affect our closeness with God. He doesn’t hold a grudge and is always open to a closer relationship with us.

So, if you want to make a move to enhance your spiritual life, then consider a move in God’s direction. Who needs to move? You do! Who will benefit? You will!

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.