Welcome to Moe's

"Welcome to Moe's!"

I wanted a little something to eat yesterday afternoon.  Not sweet.  But I needed something before I went to the grocery store so I wouldn't spend so much money.  Moe's was close by, and we settled for some nachos and cheese.  It was a gorgeous day, sunny, a little breezy, and I just had to sit outside.  It seems a shame to waste days like that sitting indoors if you don't have to.  As we enjoyed the fresh air, the breeze was a little more than I expected, and one of the nacho chips blew off the tray.  Several small sparrows were waiting to claim the prize.  (I suspect they had enjoyed a few chips before.)

The chip was rather large for a small bird, so none of the birds could manage the entire thing.  I stood up and stepped on the nacho, breaking it into smaller pieces so the birds could enjoy a snack as well.

 Several birds flew toward the broken chip.  Some birds would hop toward it, but were frightened of us, and would fly away without getting any of the chip.  One bird came and got a piece of chip, and as he hopped away with it, another bird came and stole it from him and flew away.   Yet another bird came, and bit the chip, with some little crumbs falling off a little further from us than the original chip was.  A bird that had been afraid to get close to us came and ate the crumbs that fell.  One bird, however, came right next to us and boldly claimed a rather large piece of chip.

As I watched the birds respond differently, I thought, this was the kind of situation that might have prompted Jesus to tell a parable.  An everyday occurrence.  Insignificant, but as you watched, you could see the parallel to life.   Don't we often respond like those sparrows?

God wants to nourish us -- with His word and His presence.  But sometimes we start to draw near, and we are afraid.  We are afraid of getting too close.  So before we do, we withdraw without receiving what God wants to give to us.  Sometimes, we receive it.  But very quickly the distractions and heartaches of life come and rob us of the blessing we received from Him.  Sometimes, He wants to give us more; but we settle for the crumbs.  We let someone else draw close, hear from God, and we just settle for what they share second hand.

But some people are bold.  They go right into the presence of their Heavenly Father.  They get as close as they can and can't wait for more.

Hebrews 4:16 says:  Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].

When we approach God boldly, we are rewarded with so much more than we could ever imagine.  Mercy,  Grace.  Help.

Welcome to God.