come to me

If I have a single message – a core value that all my writing comes back to – it is this: God desires relationship with you, not religion. He doesn’t just want to be believed in (even demons believe in Him – James 2:18); He wants to be KNOWN. Personally.

There were two occasions this week when that message was highlighted to me again. Firstly during my daily Bible reading which took me to Isaiah 28:13…
“So then, the word of the Lord to them will become:
do this, do that,
a rule for this, a rule for that,
a little here, a little there,
so that as they go they will fall backwards;
they will be injured and snared and captured” (NIV)

It seemed to me to epitomise the tragic descent from hearing the life-giving revelation of God’s word, into a bunch of religious rules followed by those who have never heard God for themselves. The Pharisees were a prime example, taking the law given to Moses and adding rules upon rules until those who wanted to serve God were trapped in legalism. Tragically, church-goers across the world today still experience this kind of religious observance of rules and miss the joy and freedom of walking with God Himself. For when we don’t know Him and walk with Him in relationship, we have to resort to what other people have said about Him, rightly or wrongly: a two-dimensional second-hand representation. It’s no substitute for the real thing, loving relationship with God Himself.

So, He invites us to walk with Him. In Matthew 11:28, Jesus words are recorded: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]” (AMP)

It is only by coming to HIM, in person, that we receive rest from religion, and our souls are saved.

The second thing that struck me this week happened while I was reading a fiction book set in the times when Jesus physically walked on earth. A character was discussing the crowds that followed Jesus hoping to be healed, and I suddenly saw the scene before me: Jesus walking through a town where hundreds, if not thousands, gathered hoping for a touch. And a question rose within me: if Jesus’ mission was all about healing, why didn’t He just gather a crowd together and then command them all to be healed in one go, when clearly He had the authority and power to do so?

As soon as I asked the question I heard the reply:

“Because I wanted them to come to ME”

There are several accounts of Jesus healing in crowds. These are a few: Matthew 15:30 says, “Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them” (NIV). Matthew 4:24 says, “people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—he healed them all” (NLT). Luke 4:40 says “all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them” (NKJV).

Evidently it was about the personal touch: whether being laid at His feet, or touched by His hands -the vast majority* of the people healed by Jesus were those who encountered Him and saw the love and compassion in His eyes as he healed them (*and for those few exceptions who were healed ‘in absentia’, it was after a friend encountered Him personally). If He had healed people en masse they would have been blessed by the healing but missed the most important point: encountering Him personally. (Healing is great, but knowing Him is better. Our physical wellbeing is only an issue during this brief lifetime; knowing Him is for eternity).

I heard a well known Christian preach his theory about Jesus not healing everyone, saying that when Jesus left town there would have been people left behind who weren’t healed, delivered, or raised from the dead. From that assumption he inferred that Jesus didn’t want everyone healed, but that does not seem to match with the Bible teaching that Jesus healed ALL who came to Him. Because God never turns anyone away. He wants everyone to personally receive His love and favour and to enter into relationship with Him, so that when this life is over and we step into eternity, He will have no cause to say “I never knew you” as He said to those who claimed to do great things on His behalf (Matthew 7:23). No, when we know Him and walk with Him, we will be with Him forever, continuing the relationship that can only begin here.

So today I am meditating on those words, “Come to ME”, and praying for myself and for you that we will lay aside all empty religion and simply come to Him, to truly get to know Him and walk with Him in relationship. Amen