“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:7, 12

“Ask”, “Seek”, and “Knock” are things we are doing when we read the bible. As we read lines of scriptures, we usually come with questions on our minds? We ask questions like: “Did Jesus have brothers and sisters?” “Did Donkeys actually talk in the Old Testament?” We ask questions like the disciples and the Pharisees and other religious leaders asked questions. We ask questions because we are seeking some understanding from Jesus’ words and teachings. And as we seek some understanding, we will usually ask questions about what we have read. And in the process of asking the questions, in seeking understanding, we pray the Holy Spirit may shed some light on the questions we are asking. The seeking then becomes the knocking as we find the doors of understanding are opened to us through the help of the Holy Spirit. You see, all of this action is not done in a vacuum – throughout the asking, seeking and knocking, the Holy Spirit is fully in the word as we read it, and as we pray and meditate upon it.

It is the Holy Spirit then who drives us (and also guides us) to living in ways that are impacted by what we read. And what we will find that is so prevalent in the teachings of Jesus is how to live in relationship with G-d and with each other. In the above text from the Gospel of St. Matthew, verse 12 reads, in part “Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.” Notice the verse does not read “Expect others to do to you what you want them to do.” Too many people think the Golden Rule is about how others should treat them. The emphasis on the rule is “Do” – it is action. Which, in essence, is what you are doing by immersing yourself in G-d’s word – you are doing a necessary action that informs your “doing to others” – not learning what you expect others to do for you. G-d’s name is “I Am” – a verb – G-d was, is and is active today. Be a verb today, and “go” and “do”.

Pastor Dave