Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses...

In New York Harbor the Statue of Liberty stands as a beacon of freedom, a picture of the American dream. That dream is perhaps captured best in the words of the poem New Colossus by Emma Lazarus which has been engraved on a bronze plaque and placed in the Statue of Liberty Museum in the lower level of the statue's pedestal. It reads in part:

From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome...

Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

These words beautifully capture the best of America- a wide open invitation to all the world's hurting, sick, and hopeful to come and find a better life. But this idea did not originate with America. We find it first in Scripture. God has never made a habit of calling the strongest or the best. He has always called the needy and the weak. He extends an open invitation to the weary, the needy and the sinful to come to Him and find a better life.

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! (Isaiah 55:1)

The Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners... (Isaiah 61:1) 

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

Are you spiritually thirsty? Are you in need? Are you weary or brokenhearted? Come to Jesus. He has already invited you to bring your problems to Him. Trust Him. Don't miss your chance to be whole simply because you were too proud to cry out for help.

Consider the blind beggar from Luke 18:35-42. He knew that Jesus had welcomed the sick, that He was able to heal. So when he heard that Jesus was passing by the beggar didn't wait for a personal invitation, he cried out to the Master for help! Even as people tried to shut him up (people will always try to prevent us from crying out to Jesus), the blind man shouted all the louder. He knew that Jesus was his only opportunity to be healed and he refused to miss his chance.

Don't miss your chance. Jesus is still extending His invitation to sinners, prisoners, captives and all manner of people today. If you are spiritually thirsty, if you sense your need for Him today, then run to Jesus. Cry out to Jesus. Lay your problems at His feet in prayer and believe in the healing, peace and restoration He can bring into your life.

For further reading...

•  Luke 18:35-42- Read the blind beggar's story.