What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
If you think that was great, wait until you see this! That usually gets your attention and the expectations are that what follows will be extraordinary. When Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said…but I say to you… This usually meant that he raised the bar for our behavior, anger meant murder and lust meant adultery. Here Jesus began with something mundane such as a fish dinner. Of course the father will not give a serpent. Now imagine you ask the Father in heaven for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He will not give you a serpent but he will fill you and the Holy Spirit will guide and direct you in your walk with him.
It sounds harsh to call us evil. I mean, Hitler was evil. It takes just a few moments to recollect your sins from just today to realize that we deserve the serpent dinner and worse, death. How glorious that, instead of what we deserve, we get grace and mercy, adoption as sons and daughters. Today is a great day to pray for more of what he loves to give us.
Dear Lord, thank you that you are a loving Father in heaven that loves your children who are evil and that you sent your Son who is perfect. Help us to appreciate your bounty and dare to ask for more. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church