God gives good things, therefore:'be a good gift'
And Jesus said:
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!'
(Matthew 7:9-12)
Jesus mentions that God will give us good gifts if we ask Him.
It is interesting that Jesus makes a comparison of the good gifts to 'fish' and 'bread'. As if He was saying that 'good gifts' are safe to consume or eat.
The gifts of God are not just limited to things or just to the gifts of the Spirit but they can also be embodied as people or human beings. This explains why we love to describe our babies, spouses, or friends as gifts from God.
Today, in this post I will only speak of the gifts of God that are human beings or people.
You see my friend, 'as human beings we can either be a solution or an additional problem.
Jesus mentions the possibility that we may ask for a gift from God. Just like I wrote earlier, a gift does not necessarily limit itself to things but it can also be a person.
A barren woman may ask God for a baby. A young single person may ask God for a spouse. A lonely person may ask God for a family or friends... Even in such cases, the words of my Lord Jesus in Matthew 7:9-12 still hold value.
If we ask God for somebody in our lives, God in His goodness will send us a good gift. Notice that Jesus does not mention the words 'perfect gifts' but He said 'good gifts'.
The analogy that Jesus makes by using the words 'fish' and 'bread' also teaches us that the good gifts are safe to consume or eat.
The children we receive from God as gifts may not be perfect but they are good gifts that bring consumables such as joy, laughter,pride,etc...
The spouse, the friend, the life-connection we receive from God may not be perfect but he/she is good gift that is safe to consume like a good bread or a fresh fish.
Now in the next section of this post, I would like you not to focus on others but on yourself as you are:
'Sometimes we pray to receive from God an existing person ( I am not talking about asking God for a baby that is not born). In response to our prayers, God is not going to look for the answer in Heaven but He will look for the answer here BELOW on Earth in the form of an existing person. And BEFORE presenting to us the response to our prayer, the person we asked for has to be a GOOD gift (that way, God's pattern of responding to our prayers aligns itself with the Scriptures in Matthew 7:9-12. Because God is not in the business of giving snake-people or stone-people in response to the prayers of His children.)
Remember that I mentioned that I would like you to focus on yourself and not others... and I am about to explain why:
* Everyday, here BELOW on Earth, there are single people asking God for spouses, there are people asking God for messengers, business partners, friends. There are poor nations and poor communities that are asking God to send them a helper who will relieve them from injustice, from hunger and from poverty.
The question is: ' When God looks below on Earth for the answers to their prayers, can you be a good gift that He can present to them?'
I told you:'this post is not about others. It's about you.'
You see my friends, God is a responsible Father. You and I are not the center of the universe...as much as we are His children, He also has plenty other sons and daughters that He protect.
As an example,a responsible father would not approve that a young man ,sleeping around and addicted to drugs, dates his daughter.
I am not pointing fingers at anyone.
All I am saying is:' think for yourself' (even just a little).
*A lot of people wish they could help the poor children suffering from hunger all over the world. And many of those children are praying to God for good people to help them. My question is: 'When God looks for the answer to their prayers, can He take you and present you to those children as the good gift they have been praying for?'
And how is it going to happen for God to use you, if you complain about giving just a one dollar in a church basket? If God increases your ability to create wealth to unlimited proportions, will you run away to Ibiza with it or will you help relieve the pain of the world?
Can you be a good gift?
* Everyday there are single women and men praying God to send them a spouse.
If you are single, I told you before:'this is not about them, it 's about you'. When God looks for the answer to those praying single people, can He take you and present you to another and say: 'Here is a good gift'? Or is God just going to ignore you and go somewhere else because you are a heartless player?
Remember: 'God is a responsible Father. He is not going to give a stone (which can represent a heartless person) or a snake, if His single children ask Him for a spouse.
Therefore:' the way we live now may influence God 's decision to present us as an answer to other people's prayers.
Let God say: 'I have seen this man who refused to take advantage and who refused to sleep with another man's wife, he was faithful in jail. Egypt, here is the answer to your problem' ( in reference to Joseph story).
A good gift is also a person who is safe to be consumed like a bread or a fish. While God looks for the response to the prayers of His children, He has to find us in a state of 'bread and fish' so that He can present us as the good gifts to others. But how is it gonna happen, if He finds us in a lifestyle of stone and snakes?
A lot of people wonder why God does not send them as a response to certain needs and prayers...
God gives good things, therefore: 'be a good gift'.