"Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"
Matthew 7:9-11
These verses remind me of Christmas. Can you imagine as a child, waking up on Christmas morning having asked for that specific game or set or toy that you wanted, and getting coal instead? Or telling your parents what kind of cake or meal you want for your birthday, and when you get home there is just a rock with a bow on it? ... I mean, perhaps it it had cool googly eyes it would be cool, but you know, overall kinda disappointing.
God loves us just as much as we love the children in our lives, and he wants us to have the things that we ask for. He doesn't give the same gifts to everyone because we all want different things. Our relationship with God and the blessings we receive are customized to us personally. Although we learn many of the same lessons in life like faith, reliance of the Lord, hope, etc, we often learn them in different orders and to different degrees at different times in our lives. Additionally, what we typically ask for or want is not something that can be delivered by Santa or Amazon, and often a lesson is necessary before we are ready for a certain gift. For instance, the pony we asked for might not be appropriate until we get some riding and grooming lessons, and the promotion we asked for might not be a good idea until we learn some lessons about service or management.
Another thing that I think is important to remember here is to really work on figuring out what we want. We often ask for things and then when we get them we're like... uh, well, maybe I don't want this after all. That doesn't really go over well on Christmas morning or in life. Not that we don't have to learn those types of things sometimes, but we could probably save ourselves a lot of grief if we thought things through a little better ahead of time. Another thing that would save us some grief is to trust God and do as he asks. He knows not just what we have asked for, but the deepest desires of our hearts, and if we follow his instructions, we'll be ready for the big blessings when they come along, and get gifts that maybe we didn't even realize we wanted.
Today, let's figure out what we want, talk to God about it, and follow God's program so that we can learn where to go from there... whether to prepare for it, or maybe even to get help changing our minds and hearts to seek something better. Let's talk to God and stick with him, remembering how much he loves us, and trusting him to know the correct timing and content of our gifts and blessings.
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"
Matthew 7:9-11
These verses remind me of Christmas. Can you imagine as a child, waking up on Christmas morning having asked for that specific game or set or toy that you wanted, and getting coal instead? Or telling your parents what kind of cake or meal you want for your birthday, and when you get home there is just a rock with a bow on it? ... I mean, perhaps it it had cool googly eyes it would be cool, but you know, overall kinda disappointing.
God loves us just as much as we love the children in our lives, and he wants us to have the things that we ask for. He doesn't give the same gifts to everyone because we all want different things. Our relationship with God and the blessings we receive are customized to us personally. Although we learn many of the same lessons in life like faith, reliance of the Lord, hope, etc, we often learn them in different orders and to different degrees at different times in our lives. Additionally, what we typically ask for or want is not something that can be delivered by Santa or Amazon, and often a lesson is necessary before we are ready for a certain gift. For instance, the pony we asked for might not be appropriate until we get some riding and grooming lessons, and the promotion we asked for might not be a good idea until we learn some lessons about service or management.
Another thing that I think is important to remember here is to really work on figuring out what we want. We often ask for things and then when we get them we're like... uh, well, maybe I don't want this after all. That doesn't really go over well on Christmas morning or in life. Not that we don't have to learn those types of things sometimes, but we could probably save ourselves a lot of grief if we thought things through a little better ahead of time. Another thing that would save us some grief is to trust God and do as he asks. He knows not just what we have asked for, but the deepest desires of our hearts, and if we follow his instructions, we'll be ready for the big blessings when they come along, and get gifts that maybe we didn't even realize we wanted.
Today, let's figure out what we want, talk to God about it, and follow God's program so that we can learn where to go from there... whether to prepare for it, or maybe even to get help changing our minds and hearts to seek something better. Let's talk to God and stick with him, remembering how much he loves us, and trusting him to know the correct timing and content of our gifts and blessings.
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