DAILY READING
REFLECTION
Come and See!
by Mary Kate Hipp
Come!
I have recently been pondering the invitation of the Gospel: come. Come and rest (Psalm 23; Matt 11), come and sit at His feet (Luke 11), come and taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34), come and be free (John 10:10), come and behold (John 1:14), come and be His. Throughout Jesus' ministry, he invites many people to "come and see." Jesus proclaims, "Let the little children come to me," (Matt. 19:14).
So, come. Something I love about the Lord is that He is not forceful, He does not aggressively demand we follow or love Him. He is gentle and lowly. He is kind to invite us into this great kingdom. He desires faithful love and not sacrifice (Hosea 6:6) He invites us, His children, to come and see.
It is so beautiful to me that in the beginning; we read that God calls the chaotic waters into order, and then throughout Scripture we read a plethora of narratives about water—how He is the living water, how He calms the seas, how He parted the red sea for the deliverance of His people, etc. And in the final verses of this great story—the Bible—He beckons to us and invites us to quench our thirst with the water of life if we so choose. Again, a gentle invitation.
In the mundanity of life, I often forget what a wondrous invitation this is! The creator of the universe, the beginning and the end, the alpha and omega, the one who calms the seas, gently invites me, invites you to come.
This great invitation is walking into life from death. It sets the captives free, the blind now see, the lame now leap with joy. Our hardened hearts are brought to life. We are accepted into the family of God. He gives us life and life to the full. We are transformed by the Gospel. We are called out of darkness into light. We are renewed day by day. We are called His. The list goes on!
Many of you readers are long-time followers of Jesus. You have responded to this kind invitation already! But today, on behalf of the Spirit, I would like to extend this invitation again: come thirst no more. Come, may your thirst be quenched by the Spirit, and may you also aid in inviting others into this great family of God!
PRAYER
Lord ,we are enamored by you. The King of the universe steps down to dwell with us and invites us to come. How amazing are you, Oh God? May we never lose our awe and wonder of you and forget this great invitation. Amen.
