By Gerald Cowan
There are many ways of asking for things.
You do not always have to express yourself in words.
Attitudes and actions can also be effective ways to ask for
things. We do not always get what we want, and we do not
always want what we get. But much of what comes to us we get
because, in one way or another, we have been asking
for it.
Let me offer some examples which prove
the point. Driving recklessly or too fast is asking for a
ticket, or an accident. Eating too much is asking for
indigestion, or a weight problem. Dressing immodestly or
indecently is asking for an insult, or an assault. Prying
too closely into the affairs of others may be asking for
trouble. Do you get the point now? The results or
consequences may be “built in” to certain attitudes,
actions, and words.
Sometimes we do not know what we are
asking for because we have not taken time to see that
certain attitudes and actions have predictable and sometimes
inevitable consequences. Some people are severely critical
of others, always “giving them a good tongue lashing” or
“giving them a piece of my mind” (too often done by people
who can’t really spare it). They are jealous and suspicious
of everyone. They may not know it, but they are asking to be
left alone, to be isolated and avoided by others. Some are
generous and kind, thoughtful and unselfish. They may not be
consciously seeking friends, but their way of life is asking
for love, friendship, acceptance, approval, and
appreciation. They are asking for fellowship and
companionship, and get it.
Have you ever thought that some are
asking for heaven and others are asking for hell? In the
case of those who are asking for hell it is probably not
conscious or deliberate. They may be unaware of it. They may
even be asking for heaven with their mouths. But their way
of life asks for hell, and that is what they will get. Those
who are asking for heaven do so consciously and
deliberately. They are trying to arrange their lives so that
their words, attitudes, and actions all ask for the same
thing – the hope held out to us by Jesus. Read 1 John
2:28-3:2, especially 3:2. “Everyone who has this hope set on
him purifies himself in the same way that the Lord is pure.”
The pure ones shall receive heaven, not because they hope
and not just because they speak words of desire, but because
they do what is needed to receive the hoped-for thing that
is promised. We are admonished to live a life that is worthy
of the gospel (Phil. 1:27, Eph. 4:1, Col. 3:2-4) – seeking
to take our place with Jesus Christ, spiritually and
potentially at present, but literally and eternally later.
What are you asking for in life? Random
living holds no hope of eternal good. Do not drift aimlessly
along, hoping that somehow everything will turn out right
and good. Some day God will say, “Here’s what you’ve been
asking for, and now you’re going to get it – eternally. You
must decide what you really want, then take aim, and arrange
your life in such a way as to get it. Make your calling and
election sure (2 Peter 1:1-10).
- Gerald Cowan, a longtime preacher and missionary, is
retired from full-time pulpit preaching. Gerald publishes an
e-mail newsletter entitled GERALD COWAN’S PERSONAL
PERIODICAL WRITINGS. He is available for Gospel Meetings and
he may be contacted at Geraldcowan1931@aol.com
No comments:
Post a Comment