He Seeks Us 5

Revelation 3:20

With jobs and church and family our lives can be fairly full. The days seem to fill with scheduled activities that don’t always leave room for the unexpected. Still, it is usually very nice and a fun little change in the routine to have an unexpected visitor stop by the house.

Unfortunately, there are times when we are far too busy to be able to spare the time required to visit with someone who drops by unannounced. When that happens we have to be blunt and explain that we just don’t have the time. We aren’t always ready to open the door for someone who comes to us.

We know that Jesus seeks us. He calls us into a relationship with him. But there is a unique feature to his approach. What does Jesus say about himself? What must we do for him?

This passage is very familiar to most people. It is so well known, in fact, that many churches have the familiar depiction of Jesus standing and knocking at a garden door, whether as a painting or stained glass. It is a comforting image, but there is an interesting aspect to it. If you look closely at these pictures you will notice that the door has no doorknob or handle by which it can be opened.

Jesus seeks us, but in his move toward us he goes only as far as the door of our hearts. He knocks on our lives and tries to get our attention. If he is to enter into a relationship with us then we must be the ones who open the door for him. Jesus is not an intruder. He is not an irresistible force that overwhelms us and controls us. Jesus simply offers himself to us. He knocks. We must open the door.

If we are willing to acknowledge Jesus we can open our hearts and our lives to his presence. We can invite Jesus to enter. He wants to enter. He desires that encounter with us. He wants to heal us and comfort us and feed us. But the relationship depends on us.

As we are assured that Jesus seeks us, we must consider what we will do to receive him.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you open the door for Jesus?

This is the last of our 10/2 Grow Daily Devotions for the spring of 2010. We pray that these have been helpful in building your faith. We plan to return on August 30, and we encourage you to invite others to sign up for the daily devotion this fall. May God bless you this summer. - Roger and Peggy Emerson

I Am Blessed 4

Luke 11:9-10

I will never forget the time we were all sitting at the dinner table enjoying a meal when I noticed our son was visibly upset. I asked what was wrong.

“I didn’t get any potatoes,” he said.

“Did you ask for them?” I wondered.

“No.”

The food was all there. My wife and I had prepared the meal and we wanted everyone to have all the food that was set out, but in that confused time of food being passed the potatoes had not made it all the way around the table. No one was hoarding them, and nothing was being denied anyone. My child just needed to ask for what he wanted.

What instructions does Jesus give? What are the results when we ask, seek or knock?

We may not have everything our hearts desire. We may not each possess the wealth and influence that some people have. But the blessings of a deep, rich relationship with God are available to all of us. There are times, however, when we need to seek them.

So often, people can look at life as being filled with blessings that are denied them. They may perceive that life is difficult and challenging because, for some reason, God is withholding blessings. But in truth, God wants to bless us. He wants us to have good things and goodness in our lives.

We need to be cautious so that we do not fall into the misconception that God is a magical being ready to dispense whatever we want. It would be selfish and erroneous for us to turn to God and treat him like a genie in a bottle – “Give me money.” “Give me power.” “Make me beautiful.”

Instead we should seek the blessings of God by seeking a right relationship with the Almighty. God indeed wishes to bless us. We must first see the blessings we have in our lives. Then we must seek the blessings that God wants to give us, realizing that these blessings may be different than what we may value from our human perspective, things that meet selfish drives.

The blessings from God are more appropriate and more wonderful than the materialistic blessings we may desire. We must seek them, ask for them, by striving to be obedient to God and by striving to grow stronger in our faith and our relationship with God.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you ask, seek and knock with the goal of receiving God’s blessings?