The Best Gift

9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you;

 

seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

 

10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

 

11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?

 

Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?

 

12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

 

13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:9-13

Gift giving is delightful! It’s a blessing to share kindness with others, but inside some of us there is compounded joy in giving to our children and grandchildren. Those special family ties encompass the heart with a myriad of feelings, and we would do almost anything within our power to express the love it holds.

All it takes to discover me baking in the kitchen, or making the precursory run to the grocery store for supplies, is the expressed desire for a particular favorite dessert by one of my offspring. How can a mere suggestion evoke such a passion to please, to grant an unnecessary request?

At the very core of such expression is generous love. At least that is my best understanding. To compare this earthly description with the reality of the eternal wonder is beyond my comprehension. If “being evil” I desire to give so much to those I love, “how much more” boggles my mind.

And yet, our heavenly Father is waiting to gift us with more power than we can fathom. He is waiting. He is just waiting for me to see what is rightfully (because He offered!) mine for the asking ~ for the seeking ~ for the knocking.

Father, I first ask forgiveness for living so independently, so carelessly, so selfishly. I have neglected to come to You in the way You have longed for. You have desired to pour out Your Spirit into my life with such incessant generosity and intensity, and the response from me is that I barely noticed. You would breathe Your power into my life through Your Holy Spirit in a constant flow of effectiveness if only I would ask.

Forgive my refusal to bow humbly in Your presence to receive the Gift you extend constantly.

In Jesus’ name I ask to know You in Your fullness – to be a perpetual extension of Your grace, not just for a moment, or a season, but as You will.