Asking, Seeking, Knocking... and waiting.

Hi, I'm Aaron J. Rushton.

In Matthew chapter 7, verses 7-12, Jesus says:

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

This blog is simply going to be a chronicle of sorts of my attempts to understand what that means. I won't just be focusing on those six verses, but they do set up a pretty good frame for what I'm trying to go through. I've got a lot of questions, I'm looking for a lot of stuff, and I'm coming up to a lot of doors.

So I'm asking, I'm seeking, and I'm knocking... and I'm waiting.

I've been told a few times that praying for patience is the worst thing I could possibly have done to myself, because when God answers that prayer, He's going to answer it with the most patience-building process He thinks I'll be able to handle.

Well... I already prayed for patience, and so far, that theory has turned out right.

I don't claim to have any new insights into anything concerning the Christian life. I'm not really trying to show anybody a new way of thinking or believing. All I'm trying to do is work out my own salvation, and it's definitely coming with a heaping load of fear and trembling.

I do want to invite you to feel free to comment. Please! I live for discussion and feedback. I want to know what you think, because I imagine you're struggling with some of the same things I am. And even if you're not struggling with the same specific issues that I am, you're still probably struggling with the big issue of God and how you relate to Him. I'll read all of the comments, and I'll reply in the comments if there's anything I'd like to say there. If the comments hit on a big enough idea, I'll make a new post about it. But I will read every comment.

I'm going to try to keep this blog honest. That's going to take a lot of humility on my end, and - frankly - humility is not yet one of my defining characteristics. I'm working on it. So I'm going to try to open up to you - whoever you are - and show you that I am just a poor, wretched sinner, trying his best to achieve holiness, as much as it can be achieved in this life.

I'm going to be posting about once a week, at least for now. I'll be bringing over a few things I've written in other places, just so we can all be on the same page as far as the discussion I'm having with myself is concerned.

If, for whatever reason, you think that my opinion and thoughts are special enough that you'd like to ask me a question about something going on in your life, knock yourself out. You can leave a comment, or you can e-mail me: AaronRushton (at) gmail (dot) com.

The most earnest prayer that escapes my lips at this point in my life is that God grants me wisdom, patience, and understanding, and that's definitely my prayer for this blog. I pray that - even if I'm the only person who ever learns from it - God uses me through the magic of the internet to lead people closer to Him.

So... Here we go.