Matthew 11:1-6-"When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me."
We continue our series this week on doubt as we explore John the Baptist sending a couple disciples to ask Jesus, "are you the one." In spite of baptizing Him, seeing the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus and possibly hearing the voice of God saying, "this is my son." In spite of knowing Jesus his whole life, John still had questions and wanted to be sure. I know alot of people like John. They grow up in the presence of the church and other believers and while they may be followers at some point, whether it be a life crisis, going to college or changing jobs and friends they get influenced by others and doubt creeps in . Even Paul, I believe, had doubts about what he witnessed and the scripture says he went to Jerusalem to meet with Peter and James. After all Peter and James were eyewitnesses. Maybe Paul needed to interview them to see if what He actually witnessed was real. After all, his eyewitness event of Christ was not the same as theirs and like many of us he was coming to a knowledge of Christ without the actual physical evidence.
I am reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:7-8 when He says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened." It strikes me that this passage is not a single act but may be better read, "keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking." It is at those times of doubt that we need to reach back out to the Savior. When we go to see a friend, we don't stand outside their door and wait for them to open it. We drive back over to their home and we knock again so they know we are there. A relationship with Jesus is just like that. When we doubt, we must ask. When we doubt we must seek. When we doubt we must knock? In other words, I think that our faith is a consistent and intentional seeking of God not just a one time drive by.
Much love. Preach
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