When the mystery becomes clearer...

Sometimes God's Word is a mystery isn't it? I mean to a degree we understand the words and ideas, but at times there is so much that seems shadowed in those very same words.

For example, read 1 John 3:1.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

Seems pretty understandable at first glance doesn't it? We're loved. We have a relationship with God in which He is our Father. His love is lavished freely on us. We're his children. I understand that.

But then again, do I really? Do I get the truth behind these words?

God doesn't leave His Word a mystery though. He gives us His Spirit. His Living Holy Spirit. The Living Spirit that interprets the Living Word of God to us. It's amazing when the mystery becomes a bit clearer.

The other day I was playing with Little Man. He's really been a lot of fun to be with this past month. We'd had a rough spot of disobedience and difficulty, but things seemed to have ironed out a bit. I've been delighting in his words, his ideas, his creativity, his growing understanding. My heart melts when he gives a spontaneous hug and says, "I love you, Mommy." He enjoys being with me. He wants me to be near him, to watch what he's doing. To talk with him. To listen to him. It really doesn't matter. He just wants us to be together. And what joy does that bring me to know those desires. To know that Mamma has a dear place in his heart right now.

That's when I saw something in my relationship with God and thought of 1 John 3:1. Is this part of what it means to be a child of God? Just as I so delight in Little Man's desire to be with me, his open love for me, and his growth, so too, does God delight in me. He loves me and wants to be with me, His child. He wants me to desire to have time with Him, to give Him a preferred place in my heart, to share with Him all my experiences. Am I to foster the same kind of attitude in my heart that my Little Man has towards me? Do I delight in Him, or is being with Him something that I just do out of duty? And when I live in His love, like my little guy lives in my imperfect love for him, doesn't my heart overflow more towards my Father?


I'm grateful for God's Word. I'm grateful for God's Spirit. I'm grateful when God speaks into my everyday life to make the mystery a little clearer. Live today as you are loved. Spend sometime with your Heavenly Daddy and be sure to wrap your arms around his neck and tell Him you love Him!