Grant
“May He grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your counsel!” Psalm 20:4
Grant – Why do parents feel so good about the birthdays of their children? It can’t be because the day is so relaxing. Birthdays usually mean lots of preparation, organization and coordination. Running around stuff. It’s not because everyone is in such a good mood. Usually birthdays mean tension. Parents love birthdays because they are celebrations of giving. A child is a gift from God to both mother and father. And that gift is celebrated by giving presents to the child. Birthdays celebrate life.
God the Father is a giving God too. He celebrates birthdays every day because every day is a gift of new life to all His children. In fact, the idea of God as a giver is so much a part of our Old Testament picture that this word, nathan, is used more than 2000 times in the Bible. It’s easy to remember, isn’t it? A child named Nathan is simply a way of saying “gift from God”.
When we realize that the God of the Bible is the God Who has authority over everything, we begin to understand just how marvelous His gift giving is. God has the heart of a giver. He loves to shower His children with marvelous gifts. Just like us, He is thrilled to watch us unwrap presents and enjoy the good gifts He has planned for us.
Too many times we think of God as the moral policeman, the ogre in the sky waiting to pounce on us for every mistake. But this is not the picture in the Bible. The portrait from Scripture says that God is full of compassion, patient, anxious to give, ready to help and always available. Could there be a better Father than that?
Take some time today to review the gifts God has given you. Did you include things we usually take for granted? Seeing in color, hearing the birds, touching a loved one. Warm sunshine on your face. Cool water to drink. The beauty of a green field spotted with wild flowers. The patterns of clouds. The light of the moon. Words to speak. The beat of your heart. It’s a long list of presents, isn’t it?
