Matthew 7:7
Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
The hard part about God’s love is not getting it. The hard part is receiving it. It’s too good to be true, too easy to be believed. Free grace? For me? Oh no, it’s too much. I should do something to earn it. When confronted with the spectacle of a God who is only to happy to give us eternal life upon the flimsiest provocation, just out of love, we start to put up barriers and haggle about the bill like two old men in a diner. “I’ll pay it!” “No I’ll pay it!” God can’t mean that grace is ours for the asking. I should at least cover half the bill! Surely I have to do something to make myself deserving of it. But the text is clear: ask, seek, and knock. It’s right there. Today, don’t waste a lot of time trying to pretend you deserve grace. Just ask for it and it’s yours. Sure, you need to repent your sins. But even that is a result of grace, not a cause of it. God’s loved you since you were conceived. Now’s no time to fall for the notion that you have to earn that love.
By Mark Shea
Mark P. Shea is a Catholic author, blogger, and speaker.
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