Ask, Seek, Knock

One Reply to “Ask, Seek, Knock”

1. When I read this scripture, I can’t help but remember the song, Seek and Ye Shall Find, from my childhood. It’s funny how those memories stick with us, though I’m not sure if I remember it correctly. Here are the words that rattle around in my mind:

   Seek and ye shall find, knock and the door shall be opened, ask and it shall be given and the walls come a tumblin’ down.

   Somehow I think it’s a mashed-up memory with the Walls of Jericho, but that’s the way I remember the song! While it may not be great theology, I’m happy that this is a song that plays in my memory rather than any number of other potential tunes. It’s the way I was raised and the way we raised our children. Church was part of our routine. While growing up under this umbrella, I had no idea that there were those so opposed to what gave us great comfort. Even now it’s difficult to appreciate that there are many who don’t know the hope we have in Christ, a hope that I’ve known my entire life.

   I do understand now that there are many who get to the point that they are seeking answers to life’s difficult questions.  These spiritual seekers (as we like to label people) depict the fields that are so ripe, as Jesus describes, yet the workers are so few because we’re so focused on just getting what we want.

   For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

   We could preach this verse alone and get lots of people to sign up for that! Just ask and you get what you want–better than the magic genie trick. Sign me up! I really believe that Jesus is this generous and he openly accepts anyone who would simply knock, no doubt at all. However, our culture misreads this verse because we’ve been trained to want many things. Commercials and marketing schemes are so intently focused on arousing desire that we want things before we even know it. To put this on a billboard is accurate indeed, but we have to be willing to walk with those who are asking to receive, those who are seeking to find, to help explain which door that they are knocking on.

   This should not deter us or hinder our desire in any way, but we need to be cognizant of our environment. The world is full of great difficulty, desperate situations, sorrow and disappointment. We have the ultimate solution in Christ for we have an eternal perspective, but most don’t. When we help people look beyond the temporal to the eternal we have a chance to give a great gift to them. We know how to do this for our own family, surely we can learn to do this for God’s family.

   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 good gifts to those who ask him!

   After all, this is not our gift to give in the first place. All we can do, all we must do is point people in the right direction. Some will do this through preaching, some through teaching, others through fixing a leaky pipe or mowing a lawn. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

   God, you are the ultimate gift giver. Help us to show people to the door and encourage them to knock with confidence that you will answer!

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