Ask, Seek and Knock

"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. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 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! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." 
- Jesus (Matthew 7:7-12)

How many true askers are there? True seekers? True knockers? Seriously... take a moment and think that through. Most of us give lip service to the idea, but the reality is probably something entirely different.

The word translated "ask" (aiteo) brings with it the idea of beg, crave, desire and even require. "Seek" (zeteo) means to be about, to endeavor, to require and to seek after and "knock" means to rap. Sometimes our English translations leave much to be desired and this is illustrated perfectly by these three little words. Ask, seek and knock fall woefully short of communicating the strong desire and urgency that the original Greek brings to our understanding. Again, I ask, am I a true asker, a true seeker and a true knocker? Are you?

The message Jesus is bringing to those sitting on the side of the hill and to us today is God will reward those who truly ask, seek and knock after Him. In Hebrews 11:6, we are told that God is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. The occasional asker, who isn't invested in the asking does not need to think that He will respond. The casual seeker will certainly never find and the one who knocks lightly and inconsistently will not find the door opened to him. While we might find that to be inconvenient in our getting what we want, when we want it; it is very consistent with what we know of God's nature. (take a moment to read Luke 18:1-8) 

Jesus then reminds His students that God is the giver of good gifts. He uses the fact that parents give good gifts to their children and that if we as humans know how to give good things to our children... the Father in heaven is quite capable of providing every good thing that we need. "Dad can I have a slice of bread? Nope, chew on this stone! Mom, can we have fish for dinner? Nope, here, hold this snake." If mom and dad understand what we need, surely our Creator is in an even better position to provide for our needs and wants.

He closes His thoughts on this with the Golden Rule... "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you". In other words, get your heart right, be like God! Treat others with respect. Love your neighbor as yourself. Imagine a world where people lived out this single little rule. Every person treating the other person the way they want to be treated. World changing little thought! May it begin with each of us and spread like the flu! I am reminded of the movie "Pay It Forward". One person did something good for another person and asked them to do the same. Then they did good to someone and asked them to do the same and on and on.... may we do it today. Take a minute to watch the video link below.


"You must be the change you want to see in the world." - Mahatma Ghandi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc8ZbVcdHpg