Drawn

Tuesday November 18, 2014

After I finished speaking at a church one Sunday on how the cross shows that God can redeem our broken dreams and suffering, a man came up to me wanting to talk. "I haven´t been to church in 26 years," he said. "I´ve just been through a divorce and a business failure - I have lots of broken dreams. Just this week I said to a friend, 'If there is a God, why doesn´t He step in to help?' Then all week I had this feeling I should get to a church service. What you said tonight has really rocked me. It´s like I was meant to be here."

A few minutes later a couple walked up. "I haven´t been to church in years," the man said. "And I´ve never been to church," said the girl. "But all this week," the man said, "we had this strange feeling that we should get to a church service. What you shared tonight was exactly what we needed to hear. It´s like we were meant to be here."

These experiences, just moments apart, reminded me that God is always working - drawing people to Himself. God´s desire is that everyone should find salvation in Him, and so He draws us to Jesus (John 6:40, 44; 1 Timothy 2:3-4). The tree people I talked with weren´t at church by their own decision alone - they had been wooed there. If they continue to listen to the Father, they will find Jesus and the eternal life they deeply long for. Jesus said, "Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me" (John 6:45).

"God has drawn you here because He loves you," I told the first man, before getting a Bible for him. "When you leave here you´ll find that all sorts of distractions will be placed in your way to ignore what happened tonight. Don´t be distracted. God is calling you. Listen to Him and find out who Jesus is." - Sheridan Voysey

Read
John 6:40-50
"And this is the will of Hi who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." The Jews then murmured against Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."

And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?" Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die."

John 12:32
"And I, if I am lifted up from earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."

Question to Ponder
How has God drawn you to follow Jesus?
Who is He drawing from among your family and friends these days?

** Article taken from ODJ (Our Daily Journey with God) Sept - Nov 2014 issue