The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Luke 11:9-10,
"So I say to you: 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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."
The Scriptures are called "revelation" because within them we find so much about God we would otherwise not know. Additionally, within the pages of Scripture we find the authoritative word on what God is like, what his expectations are, his agenda and what he is doing on planet earth.
There are many today who feel that God has predetermined all that happens. If God has decided you will be saved, then saved you will be! If he has pre-determined you are not to be saved, then anything you do will never be able to change that. It is the ultimate in fatalism.
However, in the Scriptures, Jesus simply does not present God in that way. Here Jesus Christ says if we seek God out, he will respond. This can only be true if God might not act if we don't seek him. Otherwise what Jesus Christ taught is misleading and without merit.
Jesus Christ's observation on his statement about God responding to our seeking him is that God knows how to give good gifts. He says, "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:11-13. I note the gift Jesus has in mind here is the gift of the Holy Spirit. As we know from many passages in Scripture, as say Romans 8:9-11, he is speaking of salvation here. That passage in Romans says, "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." If we ask God, if we seek him, if we knock on his door he will respond to us with his wonderful gift of salvation.
God is interactive with us, just like a real person! If we respond to him, he responds back! Far from a pre-arranged script that unfolds without any regard to the choices, desires and heart-felt expressions on the part of people and God, we find in the Scriptures that if we make the choice, if we make the effort to approach God, he will respond to us.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
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