LIFE LESSONS: Asking for Good Things
READ: Matthew 7:7-11
Consider: Are the Olympics about individuals and teams doing their best in a given sport? Are
they about nationalism (think medal count)? Are they about which political system produces the
best athletes? Some would respond by saying that when all is said and done, the Olympics are
about winning; for some, winning means giving a personal best, to others only the gold can
define it.
The desire to win has motivated some Olympic competitors to cheat, whether by doping or
by throwing a game in hopes of ending up in an easier bracket. Lots of competitors have been
caught cheating, and those that didn’t get caught … weren’t cheating? Maybe, maybe not; but
cheating does reveal a desire to win.
Ben told me about a friend of his who was on a mission trip when he came upon a group
performing a play about winning. Various ones came “on stage,” and each new person was
shown in some way to be better than the ones before, and at the end, “death” came and everyone
fell down. The ancient Greeks, knew this well. In fact, a popular axiom often found carved on
tombs was “mors vincit Omnia” – “death conquers all” or “death always wins.” It’s even been
said that you can’t cheat death.
But as Christian’s we believe that Jesus conquered death. We believe this because after He
rose from the grave three days after he was crucified, there were people who saw Him, talked
with Him, and even touched Him. And upon their testimony we place our hope in the promise
that Jesus made that all who call upon the Lord will also one day be raised from the dead
victorious. Life in Christ wins.
But life in Christ isn’t easy, and seems upside down. We’ve won, but we still have to
compete each day. We still have to face the difficulty of living for Christ. To do so, we’ll need
the wisdom to get rid of the logs in our eyes, and the patience to help get rid of the specks in
other’s eyes, and the humility to let others help us with our own specks. And in order for that to
happen, we’re going to need some help from above.
Jesus’ plea that we ask, seek, and knock, isn’t about bugging God to get to work on our
Christmas wish list; but about getting His help to deal with logs and splinters. The pearls of
wisdom rejected by the swine are the very ones we ask for, seek after, and lay behind the door
we knock upon. And our heavenly Father, who knows how to give good gifts, will provide for us
the help we need.
Prayer: We come asking, seeking, knocking, hoping to receive from You the help we need to
live Your ways. Thank You. Amen.