CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 973

“Come to Me”

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matt 11:28-30 (NIV)

I remember playing a game with my Dad on cool summer evenings after he had mowed my Grandfather’s lawn. I would approach him slowly and come close to him only to run away quickly, narrowly avoiding his grasp when he reached out to me. “Come to me”, he would say and I would approach him again only to once more escape his grasp.

While this child’s tag-like game may have been fun, it is a sad truth that many of us continue to play this game with God the Father. ‘Come to Me’, Jesus says and we attend church services only to be there physically while our minds and thoughts are elsewhere. We came close but remained out of the Lord’s reach and avoided His loving embrace. Is it any wonder we make comments like, ‘I didn’t get anything out of the church service’?

When we are tempted, God says, ‘Come to Me’ and we hear Him but we also hear the call of the passions and lust of our flesh. Sadly, many of us escape the Father’s embrace of love and choose instead the bondage and chains of sin. Once again we avoided His loving arms of protection from the evil of this world.

When we are weary and burdened with significant trials, Jesus says, ‘Come to Me’ and yet we avoid Him once more, refusing to let go of our stubborn pridefulness. We choose instead to struggle on in our own strength and refuse to make a priority of prayer.

We may be visibly moved and touched by God’s Holy Spirit during a worship service and the preaching of the Word of God. Yet when given the opportunity to step out of the anonymity and comfort zone of our seat and come forward to the altar of God to be ministered to and receive from God we refuse to get close. Our pridefulness becomes a stumbling block and a barrier. The passions and desires of our sinful nature resist the change that is sure to come from the touch of God and once again we came close only to escape the Father’s loving embrace.

How many people do we know that are in need of salvation through Jesus Christ – people who hear the Gospel and who hear God’s call of ‘Come to Me’ and yet choose to remain distant, just out of reach of God’s forgiving and sanctifying embrace?

Why do we play this ‘game’ with God? What does this temporal world have to offer that can even begin to compare to the eternal relationship we can have with God Almighty?

You are not a valueless pawn in a game. The stakes are real and eternal. This ‘game’ of life is for keeps. Stop toying with God and when Jesus says ‘Come to Me’ … run to Him… do not walk… do not hesitate … run headlong into His embrace and never let go.

Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:8 (NIV)