IS GOD INTERESTED IN YOU?/GOD REACHES OUT TO YOU

WHY SOME HAVE DOUBTS:  Many who believe in God feel distant from him.  "I just viewed him as the God who created everything," admits Christina, a woman from Ireland who attended church every week.  "But I didn't know him. Not once I did feel close to him." 

WHAT GOD TEACHES:  When we feel lost,  Jehovah does not give up on us. Jesus illustrated God's care for us this way: " If a man has 100 sheep and one of them strays, will he not leave the 99 on the mountains and set out on a search for the one that is straying?"  The lesson?" Likewise, it is not a desirable  thing to my Father who is in heaven for even one of these little ones to perish." -Matthew 18:12-14. 

Every "one of these little ones" is precious to God. How does God "search for the one that is straying"?  According to the scripture quoted at the outset, Jehovah draws  people to him.

Consider how God took the initiative to draw sincere individuals. In the first century C.E., God sent  the Christian disciple Philip to intercept an Ethiopian official's chariot and discuss the meaning of a Bible prophecy that the official was reading.  (Acts 8:26-39)  Later, God directed the apostle Peter to visit the home of a Roman officer name Cornelius, who had been praying and striving to worship God.  (Acts 10:1-48)  God also guided the apostle Paul and his companions to a river outside the city of Philippi.  There, they met "a worshipper of God" named Lydia, and "Jehovah opened her heart wide to pay attention." -Acts  16:9-15. 

In each case, Jehovah made sure that those who were seeking him had an opportunity to know him. Who today call on people in their homes and in public areas to share the Bible's  message about God?  Many would answer Jehovah's Witnesses." Ask yourself,  'Could it be that God is using them to reach out to me?'  We urge you to pray to God to help you respond to his efforts to draw you to him.

Next time: IMITATE THEIR FAITH/JOSEPH -"Please Listen to This Dream"

From The Watchtower  magazine