Our daughter and son-in-law and grandsons were visiting some out-of-state family members recently. Our favorite 4-year-old had gone outside to play. When he tried to come back in the house, he found the door had locked behind him. He tried other doors, but he was locked out, no matter where he went. He yelled loudly, but it was big house and no one was close by. No one heard him. The longer he was locked out without anyone responding to his cries, you can guess, the more desperate he became. And even though he eventually got in, the awful feelings that went with being locked out left a deep impression.

Unfortunately, that locked-out feeling isn't unique to a child who can't get in. Many of us grownup children know that feeling all too well. Maybe you've felt locked out much of your life - excluded, abandoned, unheard, unnoticed. You've been hurting, but no one seems to respond.

Maybe you've found a lot of doors locked for you. But there is a door that stands not only unlocked to you, but wide open. Inside that door is love and acceptance and worth greater than you could have ever hoped for. At that door stands the very Creator who made you, wanting to welcome you into a personal relationship with Him.

The very first book of the Bible tells the story of a woman who had been locked out by those among whom she had once belonged. Hagar was maidservant to Abram's wife, Sarai. God had promised Abram and Sarai a miracle child in their old age, but when God didn't do it fast enough for Sarai, she suggested Abram sleep with her servant Hagar to conceive a child through this surrogate mother. Hagar became pregnant, but the ensuing tension between her and Sarai is described in the Bible this way: "Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her."

Now this expectant mother is alone in the desert, essentially locked out of the family she had been a part of. In Genesis 16, beginning with verse 6, our word for today from the Word of God, the Bible says, "The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert ... the angel of the Lord said to her, ... 'the Lord has heard of your misery.'" Experiencing the love and help of the Lord, "she gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: 'You are the God who sees me,' for she said, 'I have now seen the One who sees me.'"

That's the same Lord who knows your misery, who sees you in your situation - even if you've never given yourself to Him. He loves you. So much that He sent His one and only Son to die on a cross to pay the penalty for your sin. He's had His eye on you since before you were born. You matter so much to Him that He paid the ultimate price so you could get rid of the sin that keeps you from a relationship with Him. This could be the day that you finally "see the One" who's seen you all along. You see your Creator for yourself - you experience Him for yourself - beginning the moment you reach out to Jesus Christ in total faith as the only One who can forgive your sin. The only One who can bring you into a right relationship with God and take you to heaven when you die. If you're ready to experience this incredible love for yourself and begin this relationship with Jesus, I would like to send you the booklet I wrote about it called "Yours For Life." Just let me know you want it.

You're on the edge of the love you've needed, you've yearned for all your life. Jesus died to unlock the door to that love. Don't go one more day without Him.

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