Jesus said,
Is there anyone among you who,
if your child asks for bread,
will give a stone? Or if the child
asks for a fish, will give a snake?
If you then, who are evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your
Father in heaven give good things
to those who ask him!
Matthew 7:9-11
I love my kids!
And today's passage encourages me to think back to when they were little. Those were hallowed days, playing football in the yard and reading Hardy Boys before bed!
How horrifying to think of thrusting a scorpion at them. Rather than "giving my kids a snake," I would have dived in front of a speeding bus to push them out of the way.
That's what Ed-"who-is-evil" would have done ... in theory. That's what Jesus-who-is-just did ... in fact. He dived in front of a bus to save my little boys. He died on a cross to save Ed-"who-is-evil."
When I read today's passage, it's immediately about the generosity of God. He gives ... more and better ... than we do. He loves ... more and better ... than we do.
But we need to sink a level deeper than the immediate. God IS ... more and better ... than me and we. Indeed, one sin stains me. It breaks me. It makes me evil.
The point of this story is little if we just say, "God is more generous than us, so trust him to answer your prayers."
No. The point is this. You and I are sinful. We roll in the mud and muck. We gossip and stab others in the back. We lie and deceive. We cheat and steal. We are NOT God, nor good by comparison. The point isn't that God is a little ... more and better. The point is that God is a million times ... more and better.
And if you love your kids and answer their requests generously, imagine how much ... more and better ... God gives to you.
In Christ's Love,
a guy who yearns for the day
when my Father in Heaven
reads Hardy Boys to me
(and I'd even allow him to substitute
a reading that's ... more and better)
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