Will You Receive Jesus?

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

 ¹¹He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

 ¹²But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

 ¹³Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

-John 1:10-13 (KJV)

In my opinion, verses 10-11 are some of the saddest verses in all of Scripture. "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not." Jesus, God in the flesh, the Creator of all that is around us, was rejected by His own creation! His very creation didn't know Him, and they didn't receive Him. Since I've been studying these passages for tonight's SLTV broadcast, I've been stuck on the phrase, "and his own received him not."

I think there is an important lesson here. We receive people into our homes and churches. We receive people into our lives. I found 18 definitions for the word "receive" at http://www.thefreedictionary.com/receive. Among them, two really stood out to me. 1) To take or acquire (something given, offered, or transmitted); get. 2) To meet with, experience. Now, think of these terms in our relationship with Jesus. For the Christian, we've met with Jesus and experienced Him in our lives. We experienced the Spirit's call that we are sinners, and we need a Savior. We received, or experienced Him. Secondly, after we had met Him, we acquired something. Verse 12 says, "But as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on his name." There is something given (remember, part of the definition of receive). That something is the power to become the sons of God! Verse 13 continues, "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Jesus offers us salvation, He has something to give. Unfortunately, many will reject His gift, just like they did when He came the first time.

Will you receive Jesus today? He's waiting and calling. Have you received his gift? What are you waiting for? Think About It.