Favorites

12 February 2010

Favorites

Over a decade ago, I asked my three (at the time) grandsons, "Who's my favorite grandson?" Rebecca, their mom, knew this could be a dreadful mistake if I picked one, for then I would be rejecting two.

But the answer to the question was, "You all are!", so Rebecca breathed a big sigh of relief.

As time went on, this question was expanded to include all of the cousins, with the answer always remaining the same.

A couple of years ago, I asked the same question, and the kids must have been getting a bit tired of it, because this time my precious smart-aleck grandson, Chris, (whom I love dearly) said, "I am!" and his older brother, Joshua, said the same thing. This gave me pause, but then I found I could say, "That's right, you are, Chris. And so are you, Josh, and so is Jonathan."

Now at the end of every visit with the grandkids, as I'm hugging each one and saying "Goodbye", I whisper in each one's ear, "You're my favorite." And sometimes then the hug gets a little tighter, even though each one knows I'm telling all the others the same thing.

Oh, but that's not logical. That's true, it isn't. But so what? It delivers the message I want to convey. I want each of them to know how precious they are to me.

OK, now in Luke 15:4-7, did the shepherd who left the ninety-nine to search for the one lost sheep have a favorite? He had one hundred favorites, since he would have gone searching for any one of them. It didn't matter which one. But at that time, it seemed like he had just one favorite. And that lost sheep was (or is) you! You are His favorite!

The Lord Jesus wants you to know how precious you are to Him - even if you wander away and ask for your share of the good life, as the prodigal son did.

God's love is faithful and constant, to the point of being irrational. Parents know what this is like. Klingons and Pharisees don't. But you're not a Klingon or a Pharisee. The Spirit of the Lord has entered (or will enter) your inner most being and has given (or will give) you a new heart. You can know and experience that love.

Father God wants you to enjoy His presence. Rejoice in His presence!

It's a blessing to be one of God's favorites. Hallelujah!

Larry Carroll