One of the most popular verses in the bible that is commonly used in general conversation, even among non-Christians or unbelievers is
Matthew 7: 7: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
This appears to be a fairly straightforward message right? …..if this really worked our lives would be pretty much set! So how come this isn’t working for us? Before we get into that question, we need to look at the verses that follow 7, that is verses 8-11, in these, Jesus simply says that if you ask, you’ll get what you’ve asked for, seek and you’ll find what you’re looking for, knock on the door of opportunity and it will be opened for you. He then compares our human capacity for love, the love for our children, which is probably one of the highest degrees of love any person is truly capable of, with the love of God! If we who are mere of men, want to satisfy every request of our children, how much more eager would God be to fulfill our requests!
However, I found something quite interesting in verse 12! We’ve covered this verse in one of my earlier posts, but there is a very significant word that I believe is very much overlooked!
Mathew 7: 12: "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Note how this verse begins with the word ‘So’! It almost appears like a condition….like when we sometimes explain things to our children. For example, I would explain to my daughter that a general rule of the house is getting to watch TV only if we finish our food. This rule applies to all members of the household and after explaining this rule to her, I would say, “So this means you have to finish your milk before I can put on your cartoon on for you.”
Jesus appears to do something similar here. He explains to us how easily we can get what we want, but then he tells us what our role is in this process to make it happen! This means, we have to give what others ask of us, we have to provide others with what they seek from us and we must open doors that we can for those who knock at it, only then can God release the same blessing in our lives! Again it is understood that this rule has to be applied with good reasoning! Jesus is clear in verse 11 about this,
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
The operative word here is ‘good’. This obviously means that we have the responsibility of making sure that what we give is good, and will not cause harm. So if you need to receive good blessings from God, start giving out some good blessings to others! I know we’ve covered something similar earlier, but as we cover this from different aspects in the word of God, we will develop a deeper understanding of how this rule operates! There are many many verses and parables based on the concept of doing to others as you wish to receive! We will hopefully see more of this in the coming days!
Let’s go for a popular chicken recipe for today!
Easy Tandoori Chicken Legs
Ingredients:
Chicken Legs (Thigh + Drumstick) – 6
Chaat masala – ½ teaspoon (optional)
For Marinade:
Curd – ½ cup
Ginger-Garlic Paste – 2 Tablespoons
Garam Masala – 1 ½ Tablespoons
Red Tandoori food colour – ¼ teaspoon
Pepper – 1 teaspoon
Salt – as required
Vinegar – 1 Tablespoon (only add this if your curd is not sour enough)
For roasting:
Oil – 2 Tablespoons
Instructions:
1.Marinate chicken legs with the ingredients for marinade and refrigerate overnight or over 24 hours preferably.
2.Preheat oven to 230 degree Celsius.
3.Brush a baking dish with oil. Take the chicken legs out of the marinade and squeeze out excess marinade. Once the chicken legs are in the baking dish, brush across the top of the pieces with oil. Now cover the dish with tin foil and bake for 25 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for another five minutes. Continue baking for a little further if there is excess water in the baking dish. If the chicken appears to be browning too quickly, reduce the temperature after the initial 25 minutes.
4.Once the chicken is out of the oven, sprinkle some chaat masala on the pieces and serve hot.
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