“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”” Luke 11:13 ESV.
Reflection: what gifts have you received from God?
Valentine’s Day is around the corner. And if you take a quick trip to any store, they are full of gift ideas. And even if the day has been highly commercialized, it is always good to give gifts to demonstrate your love and gratitude of others.
We have come to the third part of Jesus teaching on prayer. First, we learned that we are to begin by saying the Lord’s Prayer. It is a declaration, of who we believe in and what we believe. Second, we are to ask, seek, knock persistently, to bring our requests before the Lord. And today we learn about God’s goodness, which is hard for us to believe, to understand and to trust. Why? Because what we ask for is not always in the form or the timing we think is best. So we might start questioning God. Did He not hear us? Does He not care about our request?
Jesus therefore makes the following point to clarify. “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” Luke 11:11-12 ESV. And, we recognize this, we can understand this, that we want the best for our children. But, notice carefully here what Jesus is using as the example of what the son is asking for:
A fish. An egg.
He is asking for good food. And Jesus says that no father would give his son food that would hurt him, like a serpent or a scorpion. And Jesus completes the example by saying “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”” Luke 11:13 ESV.
He will give those who ask, who seek and knock of Himself. His Holy Spirit, which will demonstrate as His personality and character. Of His power and authority. It isn’t anything we do, other than to seek Him. He is the gift giver, the giver of Life.
There are many being so focused on earthly gifts from God, of wealth and prosperity. But if we look at Jesus, he didn’t have much wealth in this world, yet he was richer than any of us. His wealth was beyond this world. While prosperity in this world may be fine to strive for, as God is the giver of all good things, we are also so easily consumed by what satisfies the flesh.
Let’s aim much higher, and ask our Father for the gift of His Holy Spirit.