Do you long to be taken care of? Are you looking for someone who will be a protector? Do you want to find a place of shelter from the chaos of this world? Do you long to belong to a group who looks after one another in partnership with their overall protector?
We all desire to be in a safe place. We want to belong to a group who looks out for one another. We long for a protector who not only wards off those who would do us harm, but also cares about us and for us. There is such a place and such a person.
As soon as you tell people the church is the place to seek protection and belonging, you may experience a scornful retort about all the things done wrong by church members. It doesn’t matter the percentage of those events is a minute percentage and very rare when compared to other organizations and all the good the church does. The excuse is used so they don’t have to commit to something larger than this world.
We are often like that aren’t we? We are willing to commit to local organizations, national organizations, or world-wide organizations, but we don’t want to commit to one that is larger than this world. Does it scare us? Are we afraid of change? There can be any number of excuses.
Regardless of our lack of desire to belong to the Church, Jesus’ Body, God continues to seek us out. He seeks to find those who are willing to accept His grace. He longs to rescue every person and does those who are willing to be rescued. There will come a time when He gathers all those He has rescued to live together forever with Him.
You are being pursued by God. He will go take all measures necessary to convince you to accept His salvation. He will use other people and situations. He will put obstacles in your way to steer you down the path to Him. He will meet you where you are to hand you the invitation. He will welcome you right where you are. Yet He won’t leave you there. He will take you down the path He wants you to go. He will lead you to His green pasture. He will provide the protection and care you so deeply long for.
I pray we all accept God’s grace. I pray we accept His invitation to follow Him into His green pasture. I pray each one of us chooses to follow the path God wants us to follow. Accept God’s invitation. Accept God’s grace. Follow Him. Go along the path He desires for you.
Ezekiel 24:11-12 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.”
Marty Pressey 