MATTHEW 7:7-8
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
TO PONDER
On reading these verses, some children’s games came to mind. The first one involved coming to a child with both of your hands behind your back and asking the child which hand they wanted. When the children were young, we may have held onto the object with both hands, so which ever one they selected, they received the gift. As they got older, we may have held the object in only one hand, so then the child had a 50% chance of getting nothing. But then they would quickly select the other hand.
Although it is not a perfect example, we can see a parallel with Jesus being the parent and us being the child. Jesus wants to give us lots of blessings that are good for us, but He also wants us to acknowledge that the gifts are from Him. So He wants us to ask. And when we don’t get immediate answers to our prayers, He wants us to keep asking.
The other game is a treasure hunt. The adults hide gifts in easy to find places, but out of sight, and the children have to go searching for the gifts. The children enjoy the challenge of the hunt so much more than if they were just given the gifts. Again, this is not a perfect example, but it helps us to understand that God wants to bless us richly with gifts that He knows will grow us into the people He wants us to be. But He also wants us to acknowledge that we need these gifts and commit to be always looking out for them, to have a positive attitude to receiving them.
The final activity involving children I could think of was Halloween, where children knock on doors to receive gifts of lollies. This is probably the least good example of what Jesus meant. In Halloween, the children knock to get gifts. What Jesus was on about, was knocking to be invited in. What was inside was not just lollies but a whole feast of very healthy and good tasting food, and a wonderful time with the host.
The points Jesus was trying to get across to His listeners was that our Heavenly Family is committed to growing us into living as members of that family and to receive the many blessings of that relationship. They fully understand the challenges we face in letting go of our current securities and to surrendering our present life and future life into their care. We have all learned to be wary of scams, of people trying to trick us into trusting them and then hurting us in some way. So in a sense, we are wary of completely surrendering our lives to the Heavenly Family.
One of my fears as a young Christian was that if I got too close to God, He would ask me to go places and do things and then leave me on my own to struggle through. This was not helped by stories I had read of missionaries going off to far flung places and then being murdered or to die of some local horrible disease or completely fail in their mission of bringing the good news to the local people. Who would want to be committed to a God who did this to the people who answered His call. It reminded me of the sermon series we had in early January, “Where is Jesus when I’m stuck?”
The challenge for God was to turn my thinking around and He did this by being there for me in numerous occasions when I was stuck, even when I didn’t ask Him. It was a growing process of learning to trust God’s love and commitment to me and learning to let go of the many defensive strategies I had developed to protect myself.
One good thing is that with so many issues in my life that need attending to, God does not work on them all at once, but over time, through the experiences He leads me through, He brings about the changes He desires. And, of course, He needs to do revision lessons on some of the issues regularly.
Prayer: Heavenly Family, I want to grow in trusting Your love and commitment to me. Thank You for everything You are doing in my live to achieve that trust. And thank You for regularly giving me a kick up the backside to remind me to be open and receptive to what You want to do in my life. Amen
TOday's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping