Come to Me

I find it helpful some times to search through the Bible for certain words or phrases to see how the Word may bring light and even definition and clearer sense to my mind. Many talk about the need to allow the Scriptures to define its own terms, but how much time do we really spend doing that very thing? It is extremely helpful to clear up much confusion if we actually took the time to allow the Bible to define itself as much as possible, and the rewards in terms of increased clarity and understanding can be enormous.

This morning as I was re-reading the passages in John 6 where I have been studying for some time, I noticed repetition of the words, come to me. I decided to take a little time and scan through the whole Bible to see all the texts that refer to this phrase in relationship to God and see if something interesting might emerge from that collection. Following are all the verses that I found initially and indeed I do see some compelling connections between these verses and some obvious links to other lines of important concepts connected to this phrase.

I have arranged the verses to highlight some of the more obvious connections between concepts within them to help highlight these interconnections. See what you think.

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. (John 5:39-40)

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day....

And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father." (John 6:44, 65)

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." (John 6:35-37)

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive.... (John 7:37-39)

And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, "Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all." And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them. (Mark 10:13-16)

Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30 NRSV)

There are so many fascinating links and tantalizing directions from these verses that I can't begin to explore them all immediately. But I want to just point out a few of the ones that seem to jump out at me initially.

I used to struggle with these verses that talk about the Father seeming to pick and choose who might come to Jesus and who would not. It seemed to have the strong scent of being arbitrary which is one of the main lies about God that bothers so many people deep inside. But when I put all these verses together this morning I suddenly noticed how they help explain each other more clearly.

The Father employs the Spirit to do the drawing of people's hearts to Himself and obviously the appeals of the Son for people to come to Him are open invitations to everyone who is willing to respond to the Spirit's pull deep inside. It is not a case of God arbitrarily determining who is going to be lost or saved, invited or rejected, but rather a well-coordinated effort on the part of all the Godhead to attract as many as are willing to come embrace the love and joy that they so much want to experience with us.

I also notice the various groups of people who are appealed to to come to God in these verses. The children are invited to come, and those who try to make God out to be unattractive or stern and forbidding are themselves rebuked strongly for misrepresenting God to the tender minds of the children.

Those who carry heavy burdens are urged to come for rest. Most likely these are people who are much older and who have accumulated over the years much emotional baggage that is causing them to feel very tired inside and outside as well many times. Until one truly begins to experience the incredible freedom and joy of really knowing Jesus personally and having guilt and shame and fear lifted from their hearts, they have no clue of how really heavy their burdens are and how much energy is being sapped out of their lives by all the internal baggage they are carrying around.

This is particularly true of people who claim to believe these invitations and teach the 'truth' to others but still have failed themselves to enter into the kind of rest that God longs for all of us to live in all the time. Just because a person is religious and can quote and teach Scriptures to others is no indication that they are really enjoying the kind of rest that results from abiding in God's love. Many who talk about this, teach it to others and profess it still do not really grasp the real meaning of these invitations to experience true rest.

And finally, those who are hungry and thirsty are strongly urged to look to a better source from which to derive more satisfying fulfillment. Our lives are consumed with attempts to get satisfaction from all kinds of sources, to quench a hidden thirst that never is quenched by anything we can get from a tap or a bottle. Our hearts ache with a deep hunger for friendship, for feeling cherished, for a sense of value and importance that nothing ever seems to really address. We dull the ache many times with pleasure or find temporary relief in artificial recognition from various gimmicks the world offers us. But in the end we find we are even more hungry and thirsty and our addictions to the offers of this world only intensify in our vain pursuit for happiness.

All of heaven is bent on helping us to realize the true nature of our deep hunger and thirst. Until we begin to sense that physical things and social activities will never meet these deep longings we will remain highly vulnerable to deceptions and will remain in blind addiction to the methods we believe can ultimately bring us satisfaction. But none of the world's solutions have any real power to make us truly feel alive and thriving the way we were meant to live. Only our original Creator can fill the empty tanks we all carry around with a fuel that will cause us to experience true satisfaction and joy.

The first verse in this list really exposes the pivotal issue in whether we will experience this real life or not. It all lies in the power of our choosing to respond positively to these invitations of Jesus. God is fiercely protective of our experience of freedom because He can only have a healthy universe if all are free to choose to love Him without any compulsion or coercion. Accordingly, only those who freely choose to embrace these offers of real life to meet their deep hunger and thirst and receive His Holy Spirit can be trusted to live with God in intimate closeness throughout all of eternity. Those who reject His offers in favor of clinging to false sources of nourishment will find that the results of sin really is death in the end.