Just as your Father
He fulfills the desires of all who fear him;
He also hears their cry, and saves them. Psalm 145:19
Read Luke 6:36—42
Surely when Jesus promised me this it was not because he had been treated in this way by the community around him. He was judged. He was condemned. He was not forgiven. He was robbed. Yet his promises multiply, and he assures me of an abundance of blessing, of the riches and wealth and treasure I will not be able to contain. It will all spill over. I’ll pinch myself at how lucky I am. This all comes, of course, out of his relationship with the Father, who lives in abundance and cannot do anything by the measure. It surely doesn’t come from Jesus’ experience of human life, from how he was treated himself. It comes not out of the world but into the world. The real excitement for me is to inherit such a relationship with the Father that I find myself living just as my Father. Mercy, just as my Father. Not condemning, just as my Father. Forgiving, just as my Father. Giving, just as my Father.
Prayer
Father, dear Father, in the words of Jesus you give me the promise of a life I can only see as blessing. His very command excites me as an invitation. It is an invitation to come out of poverty, away from parsimony, from a critical spirit, from carping complaint and invidious comparisons. You invite me this night to open my heart to generosity, to a heartbeat that seeks blessing and abundance and good for all your children. You want to grow me to be just as my Father.