James 4:2c
You do not have because you do not ask.
John 16:23-24
Ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete. (v24b)
What if you found out that God had it in mind to send you twenty-three specific blessings today, but you got only one? What do you suppose the reason would be?
There's a story about a Mr.Jones who dies and goes to heaven. St.Peter is waiting at the gates to give him a tiur. Heaven is quite an amazing place, but in the middle of all the stunning sights, Jones notices a weird looking building---sort of an enormous warehouse. When he asks Peter to see inside, Peter hesitates. "Ah, you really don't want to look in there," he tells the new arrival.
But Jones can't stand not knowing a secret. What could be waiting for me in there? he wonders. So he argues until his tour guide gives in.
When Peter opens the door, Mr.Jones almost knocks himself over in his hurry to get in. What he sees is row after row of shelves, floor to ceiling, each stacked neatly with white boxes tied with red ribbons.
"These boxes all have names on them," Jones mutters aloud. Then turning to Peter he asks, "Do I have one?"
"Oh, sure," Peter says. Then he tries to get Jones to leave. But Jones won't be stopped. He dashes toward the J aisle. There are only 640 billion Joneses in heaven, so it doesn't takek him long to find his box. Peter catches up with him just as he is slipping the red ribbon off his box and popping the lid. Looking inside, Jones had a moment of instant recognition. Then he lets out a deep sigh like the ones Peter has heard so many times before.
Because there in Mr.Jones's white box are all the blessings that God wanted to give him while he was on earth, but Mr.Jones never asked.
Don't miss the big idea in this story!
"You don't have because you do not ask," the bible says in James 4:2. "Ask," promised Jesus, "and it will be given to you... What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?... If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:7, 9, 11, emphasis added).
You see, even though there is no limit to God's goodness, if you didn't ask Him for a blessing yesterday, you didn't get all that He wanted to give you.
That's the catch---if you don't ask for His blessing, you forfeit those that will come to you only by asking. God's blessings in our lives are limited only by us, not by His resources, power, or willingness to give.
If you doubt that God could be that giving, maybe you need to meet the real God...
Reflect: Have you asked God for His blessings yesterday? If you have not, you have missed it. Do you feel God's blessings being limited? Why? How about today---Have you asked for His blessings?
(to be continued...)
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