“Blessed is the man You choose, and cause to approach You, that he may dwell in Your courts.”- Psalm 65:4

We cannot approach God unless God draws us to Himself. He causes us to be drawn to Him. Our desire to come to Him is also from Him.

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” – John 6:44

There is nothing we can boast to God. Our salvation is a gift from Him. It is something that is voluntarily given, not something we earn.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9

Before closing my Bible today, I flipped to the book of John but my eyes were glued to my margin notes on the last chapter of Luke. Then I read verse 45 of chapter 24:

“He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.”

He opens our spiritual eyes and makes us understand His Word. I remembered the story of Paul. He was passionate about getting rid of Christians. One day, however, when he was traveling near Damascus, Jesus spoke to him and asked why he was persecuting Him.

He responded by asking who God is. He had no personal knowledge of God and yet, he was eager to persecute those who believed in HIM. After speaking with Jesus, he suddenly lost his sight and the men traveling with him brought him to Damascus. He could not see for three days.

A disciple of God named Ananias had a vision. He was instructed to go where Paul was to lay hands on him and help regain his sight. Though Ananias was hesitant because he knew Paul’s reputation, he obeyed the Lord.

“And laying his hands on him he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened.” – Acts 9:17-19

It is God who removes our spiritual blindness and makes us see things from a spiritual perspective.

“All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”- Luke 10:22

It is God’s favor that we get to come to Him in prayer and worship. I turned to a commentary and found that this aligns with my devotion today:

“The word ‘choosest’ refers to the fact that true piety regards all such blessings as the result of the divine favor; the fruit of His electing grace and love. We approach God with confidence, with the spirit of true worshippers, with the spirit of His children, only as He inclines us to Him, and calls us to partake of His favor.”

“It is only by divine influence that people are led to worship God. The cause–the efficient reason–why any man worships his Maker at all, is to be found in God Himself.” – Barnes’ Notes (studylight.org)

Action point:

God draws us to Himself but we have respond to His invitation. We won’t enjoy a gift if we won’t accept it. To truly experience and enjoy the gift of salvation, we have to receive it in humility.

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” – Romans 10:9-10