Good Gifts

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Scripture: Luke 11:11-13 (NIV)

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 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 the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Devotion:

            Today, we continue to look at Jesus’ instructions on prayer from Luke chapter eleven. In this passage Jesus compares earthly fathers with our Heavenly Father. By stating that earthly fathers who are evil, compared to God who alone is truly good, give good gifts to our children. How much more will our Heavenly Father give good gifts to His people when they ask him.

            The gift that Jesus states is the gift that the Father will give us is the Holy Spirit. There is no gift as good as this one. Yet, it is this Holy Spirit that is so often lacking in our lives. We try to live our lives without even considering that we need this gift to truly know and do our Father’s will. Because individual believers are living their lives without the Spirit’s power, so goes the church. The Christian church in our post-Christian society is often powerless to stand up to the evil that our culture presents us with. We lack the spiritual backbone to persevere when the going gets difficult.

            Jesus is stating that we can be assured that we are intended to be strong in the power of the Holy Spirit, and that the Father will freely give this gift to all who ask for it. Why is it that when we are in a bad place, one where we have to make tough decisions, we so seldom resort to asking that God would fill us with the Holy Spirit? I believe the number one reason we fail to recognize our own need for God’s provision of the Spirit is our own pride. We like to do it ourselves. Rugged individualism is a great problem for the church in our culture. We hate being dependent on anyone including God. Yet we must certainly know that we can do nothing without Him. (John 15:1-17)

            Our pride often blinds us. We refuse to see what God’s solution to our problems are. In the flesh, we try to force the solution that seems best to us. We need to ask God to show us how we in humble dependence on Him can live in a way that is pleasing to Him. Let us go now to the throne of grace in humility to seek God’s filling with the Holy Spirit.

Prayer:

            Lord, we magnify your name. You are truly a good God who wants the best for your people. Forgive us for our feeble attempts to live without seeking your power to meet the challenges we each must face. Thank you for being merciful toward us in our near constant rebellion against your laws and commands. Grant us the gift of the Holy Spirit today, so that we can live in your power and bring glory to your name. Amen. 

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