As I write this musing I sit watching snow fall...yes, snow!  The ground is white with several inches of heavy, wet snow, and more is on the way.  Even hale and hearty Minnesotans are growing weary of a winter that seems not to go away.  But we are hopeful that the calendar is correct - spring should come.  I can hardly wait until I can get my fingers into the soil, plant some flowers, and even mow some grass. 

Wow!  What an exciting week!  So much to share with you before we get to our study in John 7.  First, did you hear that last Sunday, April 6, upon the Mount of Olives just east of the Temple Mount, a group of Orthodox Jews met and performed the first sacrifice of a lamb since the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD?  The group admitted that this was not an official sacrifice, but it was only a practice exercise for those who are studying to be priests during the days of the Third Temple.  We are now a step closer to the realization of what the Scriptures state will occur during the last days.  Second, were you aware that this past week the entire nation of Israel was involved in military and civilian exercises to prepare for a coming war, either with conventional, biological, chemical, or nuclear warheads?  And, finally, this was the week of crises in the airline industry.  We could word it this way: be sure your sins will find you out.  The FAA for years winked at the leniency of the safety inspections among the airlines.  But, several weeks ago, the FAA got caught... then they put pressure upon the airlines, resulting in multitudes of cancellations as the airlines got serious about safety inspections.  I am glad my hope is placed upon the Lord, aren't you?

Well, let's turn back to the Gospel of John, chapter 7, focusing upon verses 14-36.  One of the great privileges of life is getting to meet and to know other people, best stated with the following lyrics: "Getting to know you, getting to know all about you; getting to like you, getting to know you like me."  Now one of the great privileges of the Christian life is the opportunity of getting to know God through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.  In the passage before us, Jesus is confronted by people who talk like they want to get to know God, but inwardly have no real desire to do so.  Jesus points out three dangers which must be faced in order to get to know God.

First, there is the danger of not wanting to know God (verses 14-24).  One excuse a lot of people make for not believing in God is that they don't understand God.  They ask such questions as: If God is a God of love and He loves the whole world, then how can there be a hell?  How could God have so many people killed in the Old Testament?  Friends, if a person waits until he knows all there is to know about God before following Him, then he will never follow God.  Why? because the Bible assures us we can never know God fully.  Isaiah states "His understanding is inscrutable" (Isaiah 40:28); the Apostle Paul states "How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!" (Romans 11:33). 

Let me ask you a few question: 1) Do you fully understand how a pencil eraser works?  Do you say, "I'm not going to carry a pencil until I fully understand how the eraser works?"  Of course not!  2) Do you understand how a black cow can eat green grass and then give white milk?  3) Do you understand how a chicken makes an egg with no seams in the shell?  4)  Do you understand how a little bee can take something as revolting as pollen and make something as sweet as honey from it?  The list could go on and on and on.  But we accept all of these facts, don't we?  Even though we don't understand them.  Then why can't we simply accept the fact that we can't know all about God?  It really boils down to our desire not to want to know God, doesn't it!

So, then how can I get to know God, if I really want to get to know God?  1) I can learn about God by reading about Him.  Get into the Word!  2)  I can learn to know God by spending time with God.  3) Finally, I can learn to know God by doing what He wants.  This is the critical step.  Let me give you a couple of examples: 1) You learn to drive in Chicago, not just by reading the map, or talking with others who have driven there, but by doing it yourself.  2)  You learn to bake bread not just by reading the recipe, or by talking with others who bake, but by baking it yourself.  You learn to know God by stepping out and trust Him and doing what He tells us.  The more we do in obedience, the more He will reveal of Himself to us.

Second, there is the danger of not seeing God around us (verses 25-30).  Some people can never be persuaded to see God in the ordinary common things.  The Bible says that God is always present with us.  Jesus is here stating that there is a danger of locking God into our own perspective.  We call this, "putting God into a box."  Saul thought Goliath could only be defeated by a man wearing armor, but God used an ordinary man with an ordinary sling and an ordinary stone.  Gideon thought God could only use a valiant man to defeat the Midianites, but God used an ordinary fearful man.  Don't we tend to become like Elijah: We keep looking for signs of God in the earthquake, fire, and wind; but we find God in the ordinary quiet voice. 

Finally, there is the danger of not finding God at all (verses 31-36).  Jesus states (verse 34) "you will search for Me and you will not find Me."  What was Jesus saying?  Jesus was carefully reminding us of God's promise and threat in Isaiah 55:6 - "Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near."  The reality of life is this - time is limited.  Opportunities come and opportunities go.  I have found that, now at the age of 61, I can't do the same things I did when I was 20.  Oh, I try, but my body simply will not let me.  Friends, there is a time when you will find God and there will come a time when it will be too late to find God.  Jesus warns us that we can awaken to a sense of need too late.  When the rains came, it was too late for the people to respond to the message Noah had preached for 120 years.  The rich man who died awakened to his sense of need too late. 

How tragic to spend life and miss God!  May you and I be alert every day to God and His work in our lives and in our world. 

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: Man staggers through life yapped at by his reason, pulled and shoved by his appetites, whispered to by fears, beckoned by hopes.  (Eric Hoffer)