Matthew 7:11

“If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”

Some years ago, I was travelling on a bus in Israel and heard some amazing pan-pipe music. I spoke to the driver and told him how much I enjoyed it. Without a moment’s hesitation he took the cassette tape out of the machine and handed it to me, insisting that I take it as a gift. I was quite embarrassed and insisted that he should keep it. He wouldn’t hear of it. Moments of generosity like that are a great blessing aren’t they? Our reading today tells us that that is the nature of God. He is always generous. He can’t wait for the opportunity to bless our lives. He could impose his gifts on us but his desire is that we should want them so much that we ask him for them. Jesus pointed out that there was nothing particularly surprising about that, because all parents love giving good gifts to their children. No parent, he suggested, would give their child a stone if they asked for bread, or a snake if they asked for fish (v10). Crazy and mixed up as we may be, we would never do those things. We want to bless our children and, Jesus says, God is exactly the same.

This is a massively important insight and I think that it would come as a big surprise to many people. Too many have the impression that God is a kill joy, that whenever he sees us enjoying ourselves, he comes up with a reason why we shouldn’t be doing it. People think that God is trying to restrict our lives and limit us, but that isn’t the case. God is always eagerly looking for ways of enhancing and strengthening our lives, so that we can live life to the full.

When we are convinced of God’s generosity it will massively affect our prayers. Instead of coming to God with fear and anxiety, we can come to him with confidence and joy. We will pray knowing that God is delighted to hear our prayers and looking forward to us working with him to receive and share his blessings.

Question

In what ways have you experienced God’s generosity?

Prayer

Lord God, thank you for all the ways in which you have been generous to me. Amen

Released on 23 Aug 2024