April 5 – A Pageantry of Need (Psalm 65)

“Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house.”
(Psalm 65:4)

IN WORD:
Imagine a homeless man pushing his grocery cart on the sidewalk in front of an open-air buffet restaurant. Hungry for a meal — just one good meal — he stumbles back and forth. People sit at sidewalk tables, feasting on a lavish spread of the finest foods. Imagine a sign in front of the restaurant reading: “Free buffet. All you can eat. Everyone welcome.” Still, the man wanders on the sidewalk. Everything he needs for the moment is offered, but he won’t sit down. Perhaps he doesn’t understand the sign, or doesn’t believe it applies to him, or feels like he’s too dirty to fit in. Perhaps he just doesn’t want to leave his empty bottles outside in his cart. Regardless of the reason, he hungers while others eat.
That’s how many Christians approach God’s promises. We loiter in front of His Word, but we don’t understand it, don’t believe it applies to us, or think we’re too dirty to fit in. Often, we won’t let go of the trash we’re hoarding. Regardless of the reason, we hunger while others eat. The banquet of God waits for us, but we can’t relate to it, so we don’t even ask. We won’t go sit down. We take some sort of perverse pride in our homelessness, mistaking our poverty for true spirituality. We think we’re much less pretentious than those who are feasting. We just don’t get it. The buffet is for us. God’s promises are lavished upon us with His own Son as the guarantee.

IN DEED:
Blessed are those who accept God’s promises like children, who are too innocent to ask questions or to be suspicious of His extravagance. While homeless people parade in front of His storehouse, clutching their carts, those who simply take Him at His Word, avoid the absurdity of the picture. They understand: We have a God of enormous abundance, and we are a people of enormous need. It’s a simple relationship. He invites us to display our poverties before Him so He can show the world His mercies. What prevents us from receiving His bounty with open arms?

“You never pray with greater power than when you plead the promises of God.” -William C. White-