THE HEAVENLY FATHER’S DELIGHT
The heavenly Father who delights to bless his children by giving to them what will be for their lasting profit. Jesus makes a big deal of this aspect of our heavenly Father. He makes a point of saying that God will never offer us something similar to what we need or desire, something that — although it bears a resemblance to what we prayed for — is actually something very harmful. God, Jesus says, will never mock the asker by giving him a curse disguised as a blessing. And you know, if we always got what we asked for, we often would be getting a course rather than a blessing, for we don’t have God’s omniscience, we are not all-knowing as God is. Therefore, while his answer may not be what we expected, it will always be perfectly loving. This is important to Jesus’ audience because the Greeks had many stories about gods who answered people’s prayers, but the answer…
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