Worth Getting to Know

Matthew 7:7 “"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Greetings,

The first time I invited my now son-in-law, Emilio, to dinner, I made a steak dinner, and I proudly served him a rare-on-the-inside but charred-on-the outside New York strip.

As we sat down to eat, all our mouths were watering, and we were in culinary heaven.  At least most of us were. Emilio, hockey puck eater that he was, preferred it if there were no blood on the plate. 

Of course, God bless his heart, he did not say anything and dug in.  In an ironic twist, I gave him the rarest morsel of all, and I recall how Rachel, Jorge, and I were all commenting on how “perfectly cooked” his steak looked.  I was so proud of myself for having given him what was clearly the best one, and then the awkward circular motion began.

I noticed that Emilio was cutting into his meat in such a way that he was shaping it like a circle.  I asked him if everything was okay, and he assured me everything was.  Maybe that was how he was taught to eat.  What do I know?  It finally occurred to me, when the steak was the size of a quarter and nothing but a bright red disc, that he was forcing himself to eat it.  I honestly felt bad, especially when we all finished before he did and were just staring at him laboriously chewing those last few bites.  To his eternal credit he ate the whole thing—all 12 oz of it.

Fast forward a few years and medium rare is the only way Emilio will enjoy a steak. Why? He discovered it tastes good.  His introduction to eating this way was uncomfortable but something about it impressed him enough to try and try again.  Think of all he would have missed out on if he hadn’t. 

Sometimes this is the way it goes in our relationship with God.  We start off slow, not sure of what it will be like.  Is He listening? Will He answer me? Will He help me? Is it worth it to keep on going?  Does He care?

But if we hang in there, if we persist, if we take a step of faith, next thing we know we will realize what an awesome, amazing, beautiful, loving, prayer-answering, mighty God we serve! The door to life will be opened to us, and we will never go back to the way things were. 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You are worth getting to know.  You are worth our persistence.  You are the best thing that could ever happen to us, and we thank You that when we ask, seek, and knock, we receive, we find, and the doors open wide to bless us.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

He is Worth Getting to Know~

Matthew 7:7 “"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

The first time I ever invited my now son-in-law, Emilio, to dinner, I made NY Strip Steaks.  The recipe is easy.  Punch them full of holes with a fork, pour A-1 all over, and broil in the oven four minutes each side.  This will create that melt-in-your-mouth on the inside but charred-on-the-outside crunch that we talked about in last Thursday’s DEVO.

The insides of these steaks were blood-red and screaming, “MOO!” As we sat down to eat, our mouths were watering, and we were in culinary heaven – most of us anyway.  For you see, Emilio, like my former self, preferred his meat more-cooked – a lot more.  Of course, God bless his heart, he did not say anything and started eating his steak.  In an ironic twist I gave him the most rarest steak of all, and I recall how Rachel, Jorge, and I were all commenting on how “perfectly cooked” his steak looked.  I was so proud of myself for having given him what was clearly the best steak, and then the circular motion began.

I noticed after a few minutes that Emilio was cutting into his steak in such a way that he was shaping it like a circle.  I asked him if everything was okay, and he assured me everything was.  Maybe that was how he was taught to cut steak.  What do I know?  It finally occurred to me, when the steak was the size of a quarter and nothing but a bright red disc, that he was forcing himself to eat it.  I honestly felt bad, especially when we all finished before he did and were just staring at him laboriously chewing those last few bites.  To his eternal credit he ate the whole thing—all 12 oz of it.

Fast forward two years and now Emilio regularly enjoys eating his steaks at a nice medium rare.  Why? He discovered that it actually tastes good.  His introduction to eating this way was a little awkward but something about it impressed him enough to continue on.  And to think -- he might have missed out if he wouldn't have taken a chance!

Sometimes this is the way it goes in our relationship with God.  We start off slow, not sure of what it will be like.  Will He hear me? Will He answer me? Will He help me? Is it worth it to keep on going?  Does He care? But if we hang in there, if we persist, if we take a step of faith, next thing we know we will realize what an awesome, amazing, beautiful, loving, prayer-answering, mighty God we serve! We will be given answers to prayers.  We will find that He has an inexhaustible supply of every single thing we will ever need, and the door to life will be opened to us! Most importantly, we will never go back to the way things were. 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You are worth getting to know.  You are worth our persistence.  You are the best thing that could ever happen to us, and we thank You that when we ask, seek, and knock, we receive, we find, and the doors open wide to bless us.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN~

Jesus' Invitation~

This DEVO was originally published March 4, 2014

Greetings in the mighty name of Jesus!

Psalm 34:8 "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him."

Decades ago when I first met Jorge he and I would go out to eat (Remember Sizzler?), and I would always order my steak well done – hockey puck style. This, of course, was highly offensive to Jorge, who was labeled a protein pig by a college professor and loved it!  He considers himself a steak connoisseur, and over and over again he would say, “Babe, trust me, you are eating that all wrong. You have to try it charred on the outside and pink in the middle. It will change your life."

He was so dramatic, and almost offended that I wouldn't eat steak his way, until one day, I succumbed. And I will admit Jorge was right! What a difference. The meat was melt-in-your-mouth soft, yet crunchy on the outside. I have never looked back, and on the grounds of that first taste, I long for more.

And when I accepted Jesus' invitation and discovered He outrageous love for me, the peace He so freely gives, the joy He fills me with, the answered prayers He blesses me with, and the wisdom He provides so I can live the best life possible and love my family well– on the grounds of those first tastes of His magnificence…I LONG FOR MORE AND MORE OF HIM.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Glory to Your name. Thank You for this open invitation to continually taste and see Your goodness.  We have all tasted and seen Your goodness, but we want more.  We want to be filled with You until it overflows onto everyone around us!  In Jesus' name, AMEN~