Why We Don’t “Come to Him” – A Sunday Snippet

In our last post we looked at how Jesus offered to take our burdens when He said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” * But this week I read a devotion that described why (even as Christians) we often hesitate to go to Jesus. This excerpt is from the book, “100 Days of Grace,” by Mike Genung.

“’Come to Me’ is an invitation to know God. To take up this call is to meet with the Lord as one would a friend: to establish and cultivate a relationship.

We bring very little to the table. Flattering words won’t impress Him. Our accomplishments? They’re nothing compared to His. Boasting of our possessions would be like showing off monopoly money to a trillionaire. Good works? They won’t hold a candle to His infinite righteousness. Our best efforts? We can never be good enough to measure up to His impossible standard of holiness. Then there’s the matter of our sin, which we can’t hide because He sees it all.

So what does He want?

‘Come to me’ is an invitation to approach Him as we are: lust, pride, selfishness, wretched failures, shame, depression, doubts and all. Since we have nothing to offer Him, what He evidently wants…is us. But, we can’t clean ourselves up, and He sees through every mask.

We struggle with coming to Jesus because we’re not used to relating with someone who sees all of our failures and isn’t disgusted. When He looks at us and says ‘Beloved of the Lord,’ it throws us off. Instead of finger pointing and lectures, we get a hug.

The greatest commandment is not to know the Bible, do good works, or ‘be a good Christian,’ but to ‘love God with all of our heart, mind, and soul” (Matthew 22:37). ‘Come to Me,” spending time with Jesus, and getting to know Him is how love for God is developed.

‘Come to Me” is the key to finding life, says Jesus. Thank God. If ‘be a good Christian’ was the answer, none of us would have

hope.” **

Too often, our distorted view of relationships (often as a result of our parents’ divorce) spills over into our relationship with God—or worse, holds us back from a relationship with God.

I encourage you to read John chapter 8 verses 1-11. Insert yourself as the focus of this incident and picture Jesus’ response to you. This shows the heart of God and the One who says “Come to Me.”

* Matthew 11:28 [NLT] ** 100 Days of Grace: A Devotional for the Sexually Broken, Mike Genung, Day