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Bless One AnotherPosted Feb-24-07 07:59:22 PST "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him the 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! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you."
Matthew 7:9-12
The child in Jesus' example, asked his father for bread and fish - good and necessary items to sustain life. If the child asked for a poisonous snake, would the wise father have granted his request? Sometimes God knows we are praying for "snakes" and does not give us what we asked for, even though we persist in our prayers. As we learn to know God better as a loving Father, we learn to ask for what is good for us, and then He grants it. Christ is showing us the heart of God the Father. God is not selfish, begrudging, or stingy, and we don't have to beg or grovel, as we come to Him with our requests. He is a loving Father who understands, cares, and comforts us. If humans can be kind, imagine how kind God, the Creator of kindness, can be. Verse 12 states what is commonly known as the Golden Rule. In many religions it is stated negatively: "Don't do to others what you don't want done to you." By stating it positively, Jesus made it more significant. It is not very hard to refrain from harming others; but it is much more difficult to take the initiative in doing something good for them. The Golden Rule as Jesus formulated it is the foundation of active goodness and mercy - the kind of love God shows to us every day. That is the kind of love that we are to learn and to share with one another. That is the foundation of the church.
God bless you,
J.H.
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