Ask, Seek, and Knock!
Matthew 7:7-11 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: (8) For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (9) Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? (10) Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? (11) If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
We live in a society that demands prompt, speedy results. Instead of waiting for a complete meal to be prepared for us, we need to eat faster so we go through the drive through where we can order and pick it up in just a few minutes. If we are not careful, we can begin expecting the same results from God. When we have that mindset, we attempt to eliminate our own participation in matters and just push a button and wait 30 seconds.
In our text today we have 2 very different but related lessons to learn:
1. We have a responsibility in our receiving blessings from God (Vrs 7)
2. Our God is a Benevolent Father (Vrs 8-11)
Let’s begin with the second one first.
Our God is a Benevolent Father (Vrs 8-11)
It is mind boggling to think about the extent of God’s Grace, Mercy, Compassion, and Benevolence that he extends to us. When you examine ancient ‘religions’ and the gods that early man imagined ‘worshippers’ spent a great amount of time attempting to appease these angry gods. So much so that many small children were sacrificed at an alter to calm the anger of a god. Children were sacrificed to bring about a good harvest or to have a successful hunt. Ancient man lived in fear of a god (that did not exist) that they perceived would constantly punish or terrorize them.
On the other hand, Our God is just the opposite. Our God doesn’t ask that we burn our child alive to appease him. Instead, he offered his Only Son to die that we might live. What a Contrast! That one event of offering his only son would be far beyond what we deserve, but that is not the extent of God’s gifts. The point of our passage today is that God seeks to benefit his children. While this set of verses do not explicitly state this realization, these promises are not open to the world as a whole, but rather reserved for his children or followers.
1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
Once we obtain the identity of being a child of God by being washed in his blood, the additional blessings, protections, and promises are beyond comprehension. Jesus explains this in verses 9-11. We as humans know how to give, sacrifice for, and protect our own children. Then Jesus using that as a foundation, states that we being evil, How much more does God know how to give us what we need.
Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Our minds simply cannot comprehend God’s ability to help us.
We have a responsibility in our receiving blessings from God (Vrs 7)
Make no mistake about it, the first part of this post was spent discussing the generosity of God. Therefore, we are not suggesting that blessings from God are earned or achieved. With that said, we cannot overlook the fact that Jesus tells us about three verbs between us and our blessings: Ask, Seek, and Knock. All three are verbs of action.
Ask: There have been times in my life that, I might realize that someone was at the refrigerator and would yell: “Hey, bring me a snack”. For one reason or another, they were unable to and told me: “If you want it, get up and get it yourself”. I have been known to reconsider my request and choose not to get up and get that snack because it was too much trouble. How bad did I really want it if I was unwilling to do the minimal amount of work for it? God is not going to read everyone’s mind and grant every passing wish that pop’s into our heads. To do that, human nature teaches, we would become both lazy and ungrateful. Jesus is teaching us that if it is important enough, we can ask for it. Upon asking, God will give us what we need…according to his will. Will God grant a request if it were harmful in any number of ways? Never. We must ALWAYS ask according to God’s will!
Seek: There have been new skills that I have learned over the years that simple instruction was not the best means for obtaining and utilizing them over the long term. The best method for retention was simply a hands-on approach. Sometimes, we need to do more than ask. Sometimes it will be more meaningful if we seek our the answer for ourselves. When we do, God promises that we will find…again according to his will.
Knock: With these three verbs, there seems to be both an increased level of desire and an intensity of effort. Having to knock implies that asking and seeking have led to the specific door on which we are knocking. Once again, Jesus gives the assurance that if we have utilized the energy to go this far and knock on this door, God will open the door to and for you.
By the time that we have become New Testament Christians, God has invested his greatest asset in us: The Blood of his SON. In doing so, God wants us to be successful by being faithful to the end. In doing so, God has promised that he will give us the tools, resources, help, assistance, and protection that we need to win in the end. In giving us this help, he also wants us to part participate in the process . We just need to Ask, Seek, and Knock.
I am so thankful I serve such a Gracious, Merciful, Compassionate God that wants me to succeed in finding my way to Heaven some day!
Reflecting the SON,
Dennis Hogan
Questions, comments or further explanation? Contact me at: dennis.hogan@icloud.com
