“Which of you, if his 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 7:9-11 (NIV)
The high school girl my friend Brenda was working with opened the Christmas gift she had been given but “thank you” were not her first words. “It was as if, for a second, she had quit breathing,” Brenda smiled. And then she shouted “You know me!” and leaped into Brenda’s arms with a big hug that seemed to go on forever! Why exactly did she say that?
Because every single item in the gift box was something she loved: a specific kind of candy, blue socks, favorite card games and other things as well. Brenda had listened closely to what her students had talked about as they met each week for therapy. She made notes beside each student’s name so she would not forget and then was able to put together a gift specifically for each one at Christmas.
Brenda shared “my students have various learning disabilities and there are times when they have trouble understanding what I am sharing with them.” But this time, her student could not mistake the gifts as something left over on a store shelf placed in a box but rather specific gifts just for her.
I’m sure as you read this you already know where I am headed. We smile to think that a student would realize that her teacher knows her favorite things. But how much more God knows everything about us, His children!
He knows our every need and gives us good things before we even ask. (Matthew 6:8)
He watches over us day and night. (Psalm 121:4-8)
He formed us; He knew us in our mother’s womb before we were even born. (Psalm 139:13-16)
He calls us His children (I John 3:1)
He gives us good gifts (Matthew 7:9-11)
These are only a few of the reasons why we can trust that our Father knows us, just as Brenda’s student saw that her teacher knew her very well. There are hundreds more. But we aren’t talking about a teacher in a classroom. We are talking about the Creator of the Universe, the Alpha and Omega, our God, our Father and sometimes our Daddy.
As we begin a new year, take time to stop and consider all that God has done for you - all the gifts He has given you before you even asked. And you will find that you, too, will throw yourself into the arms of your Teacher and shout “You know me!”
Father, thank you for taking care of my every need, even before I think or ask. You are a good good Father to your children. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
R.A.P. it up . . .
Reflect
Have you ever felt that the Lord did not know you personally and care about your every need?
Why do you think you felt that way?
Apply
Before each day begins, thank the Lord for all that He has done and all that He is going to do in your life.
Journal throughout your day everything - big or little - that shows you the Lord knows everything about you specifically.
Power
Matthew 7:9-11 (NIV) “Which of you, if his 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!”
I John 3:1 (NIV) “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”
Matthew 6:8 (NIV) “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
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