Luke 13

Thursday, March 19
 
Luke 13:34
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem… How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
 
I’ve always been impressed by the passion bubbling up in Christ’s heart in this moment of time. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. This is what I was willing to do, yet you were not willing to let it happen.
 
Have you ever had a blocked desire? That’s a tough thing to handle. But not only a desire, but an instinct! Jesus uses the analogy of a hen. Mother hens, by nature, draw their chicks under their wing. That’s just what they do. And Jesus, by his very nature, draws people unto himself. And it’s hard steel back one’s instinct. Yet, here’s Jesus having to deny his very nature to honor people’s ability to choose, because he will not act by force. He invites us into a free-will relationship. Isn’t it a wonderful thing that Christ will not overwhelm or overpower, but honors you with the power to tell him “no.” But his heart cries out for you to say, “yes!”
 
Know, today, that his desire is ever for you.