When you come before God? Who are you? Who do you pretend to be?
““Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD. “ Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18 AMP)
“All that the father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” (John 6:37, NASB)
The Lord knows everything about us, but the manner in which we come to Him determines what and how we will receive from Him.
If you pretend to be someone who you are not and people praise you, do you believe you are to receive the credit for the praise? Probably not. You know such praise is based on pretence. You will probably only believe the praise if it arose from a place where you were just being yourself. Only then will you accept and believe that who you are, is enough.
It works the same way when we draw near to Jesus. If you are not honest with yourself and with Jesus, you are unable to truly receive His love as you do not receive it based on who you are but on who you pretend to be. Jesus’ love for you is very real, but your frame of mind will influence the way you receive it.
If you come to Jesus as you are, no pretence, you will experience His love for you, but if you come to Him under a false pretence, you cannot truly experience His love for you as you struggle to believe that He can love you for who you really are.
The woman at the well in John 4 is a perfect example from the Bible about a woman who came to Jesus in her most vulnerable and true self shows. Her vulnerability and sincerity before Jesus enables her to truly receive His love for her because she came as she was and He still accepted and loved her.
“The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not get thirsty nor [have to continually] come all the way here to draw.” At this, Jesus said, “Go, call your husband and come back.” The woman answered, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I do not have a husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the man you are now living with is not your husband. You have said this truthfully.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, I see that You are a prophet.” (John 4:15-19 AMP)
Jesus did not judge her for her actions but still offered Himself to her, unconditionally.
A thought to ponder: When you come to Jesus in your true and vulnerable form, you can accept His love for you as it is based on the true version of yourself. Do you come like that to Jesus?
Maretha Retief