“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
- John 3:16-17

“Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”  
- Revelation 3:20

God created the universe by speaking. He spoke and substance came to be out of nothing. He speaks and chaos turns to order. He is the only holy, pure, divine One. He formed you. He has plans for you. He knows the intimate details of your life – He knows your hopes, dreams, fears, anxieties, and the secrets hidden deep within the recesses of your mind. God is love and He loves you. Pause for a moment and let that sink in. God, who created the universe, knows you and loves you and desires relationship with you. He wants you to experience His life abundant.  

A few days ago as I drove, a man’s voice on the radio told a story. Like many stories, it began with him sitting in a bar talking with a stranger. Their conversation wandered from topic to topic. The stranger mentioned his children who were grown and living in distant places, and tears rolled down his cheeks as he described how much he missed them. He described the love and heartache that only a parent knows. He said that he understood why his father called him so frequently, though it took him far too long to appreciate it, and he wished that he had taken the time to call his father back more often. The man who told the story concluded by saying, “When someone who loves you reaches out, the least you can do is take their hand.”

Jesus describes God, the creator of the universe, as our Father. Scripture describes His followers as children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, and adopted heirs. God the Father desires relationship with you, with me, with us. Every time I pause and allow that thought to soak in, I am amazed beyond words. The creator of the universe, the author of life, the sovereign One desires relationship with you.

He desires relationship with us for our benefit, not His, and He desires it so much that Jesus came to earth as a human being. He forfeited His heavenly majesty and came to earth as a mere mortal, suddenly bound by space and time, suddenly exposed to the darkness of the world, suddenly exposed to pain, suffering and sadness. And then He voluntarily submitted Himself to humiliation, torture and death on the cross, so that we might have a path to God, a way to redemption, a bridge spanning the chasm separating us from Him. He came so that we might experience the fullness of life lived in relationship with God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Your heavenly Father, who loves you, is reaching out to you. I urge you to take His hand, but you may be asking, “How do I take the hand of a spiritual being?” We simply seek Him. We acknowledge that He is really who He says He is, we acknowledge that we need Him, we ask Him to come into our lives, we open our hearts to make room for Him, and we invite Him to cleanse the depths of our souls. We invite His light to transform our darkness and His life to make us new and whole.

The holy, divine, creator of all things desires relationship with you so that you will experience His wholeness. Jesus says, “Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” This is awesome beyond words. May you have ears to hear and the courage to respond.