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.
(Matthew 7:7-8 NIV)
With the coming of Spring, green grass emerges in our corral once more, and we stop feeding the livestock hay. It’s time for them to begin foraging again for themselves. Over the winter however, they have become used to standing by their feeding tubs awaiting our arrival each morning to toss them their hay. Now that Spring has arrived and the free meals have deceased, they show their displeasure at the empty troughs by raising loud and discordant voices, with the hope that we will soon appear and remedy the issue by feeding them.
The livestock have become lazy over the winter and do not want to have to forage for themselves. How like people, I think, as I listen to their plaintive cries. So often, as Christians, we too want to be fed by our Pastor, our Bible study leaders, television evangelists and the like, because it is so much easier than foraging for spiritual food ourselves. Yet, when we feast on the words and thoughts of others, no matter how learned or wise they are, we are still missing out on the work of the Holy Spirit within us who seeks to show us depths of truths in Scripture that God has especially chosen for us to embrace amidst the situations in our own lives.
Through reading and searching his word for ourselves, we learn to ask, to seek and to knock, often repeatedly upon God’s door, concerning their true meaning. Sometimes I have found it has taken me years and multitudes of time reading and rereading a passage before suddenly my eyes are opened to truths which have always been there, but I had just not been mature enough or perhaps ready to see, understand and apply them to my own life. What a thrill it is when this happens as it keeps me asking and seeking and knocking for even more morsels of soul satisfying wisdom.
How about you? When was the last time you spent quality time asking, seeking and knocking as you foraged amidst the Scriptures, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide and direct you? If it’s been a while, why not take some time today to feed upon his word, always remembering that as you do so, your asking, seeking, and knocking will be rewarded for he has said: For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Prayer: Father God grant us enthusiasm and motivation to habitually forage, search your word, that you might bless us with new insights and truths which shall thrill our souls and mature our spirits. In Christ’s name. Amen.
Lynne Phipps
Tawatinaw, Alberta, Canada