The Upper Room Daily Devotion – Sunday, 2 February 2014 -”
Hide-and-Seek”
Read Matthew 25: The Judgment of the Nations
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels
with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will
be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at
his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at
his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you
gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a
stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was
sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the
righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave
you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that
we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And
when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king
will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of
these who are members of my family,[a] you did it to me.’
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 25:40 Gk these my brothers
The Lord said, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me
with all your heart.”--Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)
When our daughter, Jordan, was four years old, we went to visit
my parents. Jordan decided that my mom would be a great playmate, so she
grabbed her by the hand. “Grandma! Let’s play hide-and-seek. You hide right
there,” she said, pointing behind the couch. We were amused since we knew that
in the game of hide-and-seek the seeker is not supposed to know where the other
person is hiding. But God likes to play just the same kind of “hide-and-seek”
with us. God wants us to seek, but God longs to be found. So God tells us where
to look: God lives with the humble. God walks among the hurting. God “hides”
among “the least of these.” And so to find God we don’t stand on tiptoe,
looking in lofty places or building ourselves up with our own accomplishments.
We bow. We kneel. We humble our hearts and, wonder of wonders, we find the God
of the universe laughing with delight to be found by us.--The Author-Randy
Walterman (Texas, USA)
Thought for the Day: To see a picture of Jordan and her
grandmother, go to devotional.upperroom.org/blog.
Prayer: Loving God, may we know as much joy in seeking you as
you do in being found by us. Amen.
Prayer focus: Families with young children
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