seek, receive, follow

Luke 18 records several stories about Jesus and that Jesus told.
When these are put together it gives us a good picture of how we are to come to God.

Luke 18:9-22
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'"
"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

In this passage Christ gives three keys to responding to God.
In each key is a choice we must make.

1) Seek In Humility
2) Receive Freely
3) Follow

Seek in humility
Luke 17
11 As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. 12 As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, 13 crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
Matthew 15
21 Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Gentile[e] woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.”
23 But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.”
24 Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”
25 But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!”
Matthew 17
14 At the foot of the mountain, a large crowd was waiting for them. A man came and knelt before Jesus and said, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly.

Seeking God in humility often takes a moment of crisis or desperation for us to seek after God in this way.

About 9 years ago when my wife and I were newly married we lived in Kansas City. I worked with the Salvation Army in a program for inner city youth.
One summer we took these youth to North Carolina for about a 5 day back packing trip.
This was Appalachian Trail country. It rain quite a bit and was plenty hot and humid.
We carried everything with us.
We shared the load for our food and supplies.
Before we set out the kids were given a lesson in map and compass reading. Two youth each day were responsible for leading the group from point A to point B.
Our group was quite the mix. We had anywhere from strong athletic boys to small and almost frail girls.

Not too long into the trip we had our first point of crisis and desperation.
The youth who were leading us got lost and began hiking faster in an effort to figure out where they were going.
As a result they were leaving people behind.
The group began fighting and blaming each other.
We gathered everyone together to work things out.
While we were gathered together our littest and almost frail girl prayed a prayer that has stayed with me ever since.
She simply prayed, “Lord we need your help!”

How long do we struggle on our own?
How long do we go the wrong way and lead others the wrong way?
How long is our life or our family in confusion before we say:

Lord we need your help!

Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me.

The first key
Seek God in humility - Cry out to God

The second key Christ gives us in how to respond to God is receive freely
The kingdom of heaven is not something to be earned!

Try this, find a Child who is around the age of 4 or 5.
Give them some candy.

How did they respond?

Did they say, “Hey what is this?”
"Oh, I don’t deserve this."
"What do I have to do?"
"Is it going to make me sick?"

Most likely a big smile came to their face as they reached out in excitement for the candy.

Luke 18
People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

God is your Creator.
He is your Father.
He loves you with immeasurable love.
He is not going to harm you.

Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God wishes to prosper us and not harm us – this was in the same breath as telling the Israelites that they would be in captivity for another 75 years.
God has plans that we cannot see.

The things we go through, God goes through with us.
He is there in our triumphs and joys.
He is there in our pains and sorrows.

His presence is with us. He desires that we realize his presence and freely receive, like a child, all that he has for us - that he might walk through it with us.

The third key Christ gives us in how to respond to God is to follow.

Matthew 4:18-22 The Calling of the First Disciples
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

As in the previous two keys this one requires making a choice.
First you have to make the choice of, “Am I going to continue down this path on my own or am I going to cry out to God?”
Then you have to make to choice to freely receive all that God has for you.

In the parable of the rich ruler, the ruler would not make the choice to give up everything to follow Christ.

"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Matthew 18:22-25)

You don’t have to be a rich ruler to allow the treasures of this world keep you from following Christ.
Anything from our desires to our loves to our hurts (anything we hold on to and treasure in this life) can keep us from following Christ.

It is your life’s purpose to seek after God.
As with the disciples, Christ is calling you out.
He is calling you from those things that tie your hands and busy your mind.
He is calling you for is purpose.
He is calling you.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:1-10)

You are God’s masterpiece – his workmanship.
Are you ready to do the things he has planned for you?

Are you ready to and willing to…

Seek In Humility?
Receive Freely?
Follow?