Daily Devotion — Matthew 23:37 — Unfulfilled Longing
What do you long for in this life? Perhaps you long for love from a parent, a spouse, or a child. Maybe your desire is for something for others, or maybe your longing is based on a desire for yourself. True longings, meaning those deep desires based on the truth of who you are and who God is, are good things, even if they remain unfulfilled.
Jesus expressed deep longing. He longed for His children to come to Him and rest in the shelter of His arms:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” (Matthew 23:37).
You can almost hear the pleading in His words: please come to Me; please let me hold you and comfort you and protect you; please receive my love. But they were not willing, and His longing was not realized. Despite His longing being unfulfilled, He continued — and continues — to long for the same thing: His true heart’s desire to gather us to Him.
Unrealized Desires
Just like Jesus, sometimes our longings are not realized, whether due to the choices of others, circumstances beyond our choosing, or even…
