TODAY… We Draw Near

No Trespassing!
Enter at your own risk!
Beware of Dog!
 
If you read a sign with these words you will probably not feel that you should walk right in. These messages, in one way or another, make you feel unexpected or unwelcome. How very different these messages are than receiving an invitation in the mail or a friend walking up to you in the grocery store to give you a warm hug. I love when people make me feel like they want to be with me. In fact, I need to know that people want me in their lives. What a gift it is to be invited in!
 
Whether I am going to my parent’s home or picking up a cup of coffee at Holiday gas station I love being smiled at and made to feel like I am where I belong. It is also convicting for me to consider how welcoming or unwelcoming I am at times. In the busyness and demands of life, I can at times go through the motions of interacting in an uncaring way with the people God brings into my life.
 
One of the important qualities of God’s people should be that we are making people feel welcome. When I say that, I am in no way limiting it to the people shaking hands at the entrance of our church building before a Sunday morning worship service. I mean that as God’s people we are inviting people into our worlds, our time, our tables, our hobbies and our homes. We are expecting to bless people with a smile and a hug as we live out our days. We are consciously intentional to pour out love and hope to all the people we can, in all the ways we can, with all the time the Lord gives us.
 
When we live in this way we are reflecting our God. Jesus came to us and invites us to go through life with Him. This week’s theme Today… Draw Near comes from Hebrews 4:16.
 
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
 
From God’s position of power, perfection and authority, He invites us to come to Him and receive all that we need. It is from that position of being cared for and filled up that we live. It is with the overflow of God’s peace and grace we serve the world. It is out of thankfulness that we give our lives to others. It is because we know who we are that we can love the people around us searching for the answers to life’s biggest questions.
 
As we draw near to God we are given the task to bring others with us. As we live confidently before our God and our neighbors; they will be loved by us as they hopefully come to believe that God’s invitation is for them as well.
 
Confidently in God’s Grace,
Pastor Nick