How are you today? A simple question that can brighten someone’s day, displaying that someone cares. How often we may say this to others or hear it said to us. It may be a simple gesture sometimes. Other times it’s a heartfelt question. Either way it shows a level of concern for someone. I think we should be concerned enough about others that we can observe when someone needs to hear this. It may be your spouse, your child, your parents, friends, wait staff, the cashier, bank teller, etc. We all need to know that someone cares enough to ask how we’re doing.
I want to propose a question to you. Have you ever asked Jesus how He was today or how His day was going? Have you ever asked if He needed anything?
You see we get our emotions from God. We see this riddled throughout the Bible. A few examples are as follows.
God’s sadness
Genesis 6:6 Easy English He was sad that he had made men and women. And he was sad that he had put them on the earth.
John 11:35 KJV Jesus wept.
Ephesians 4:30 KJV And grieve not the holy Spirit of God… Or as it says in the Easy English Version Do not make God’s own, completely good Spirit sad.
Though He is slow to anger He still gets angry.
Romans 1:18 Easy English God is showing clearly, from heaven, that he is angry with people. He is angry with people who do not obey him. He is angry against all the wrong things that those people do. The wrong things that those people do stop other people from knowing the true things about God.
God’s Happiness
Jeremiah 32:41 Easy English I will be happy when I do good things for them. I really want to plant them in this country to grow, like trees. Nobody wants to do anything more than I want to do that.” ’
God’s jealousy
Deuteronomy 6:14-15 KJV 14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; 15 (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
If you dig you can find many examples of God’s emotions. If God has emotions then shouldn’t we ask how He’s doing? Is He sad that people reject Him although He’s done so much for them? Is He angry about how people treat each other? Is jealous that He reaches out to people every day for fellowship, just to get ignored. Is He happy with our actions? Does He feel our love? Is He pleased with us? These are not questions to make you look down on yourself, but rather to just check on our God. Obviously though if there is something that we are doing that displeases God then we should fix it.
A lot of these things we cannot fix in the grand scheme, but we can check on our God. When you stop that person that’s having a bad day, you generally don’t fix their problems. It’s just the fact that you asked, that made their day better. We may not can fix a lot of God’s problems, but we can let Him know that we care.
2 Corinthians 5:9 EasyEnglish But, more than anything else, we want to make God happy. We want to do that, whether we are at home in our body here or away from it.
A little more thought on this.
In Luke 7 we find the story of Jesus being invited to Simon’s home. The Bible says that a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment (Luke 7:37-38 KJV).
This upset some there including Simon. Jesus said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment (Luke 7:44-46 KJV). Basically she tended to Jesus’s needs. Simon wanted Jesus in his home, but it appears he only wanted Him there for how it benefited him. It seems he was only interested in receiving from Jesus rather than giving to Him. He wanted everybody to know that he had a relationship with Jesus and displayed this by having Him in his home. But he was wanting only to be ministered to, he wasn’t interested in ministering to others.
Remember it is written in Matthew 25:35-40 KJV 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Which means when we minister to others that we are ministering to Jesus. Let’s not have Jesus in our lives in a way that doesn’t change us. A relationship with Jesus should cause us to reach out to minister.
1 Peter 4:10 NHEB As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms.