God's Gift To Us - By: William Hoyle

"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"- Luke 11:13

This scripture is a staple of the church. We use it all the time to talk about the nature and character of God. It comes in the context of a discussion on the simplest idea of parenting- when your children are hungry, you feed them. You don’t hurt them, poison them, or starve them. You give them the food they so desperately need.

Luke quotes Jesus saying that if we, being evil, give our children good gifts, there is an even greater degree to which God will give us the Holy Spirit. I believe we often miss a connection though. This is more than simply “we do right by our kids, and God does right by us.” Yes, God does do right by us. Yes, God does want to bless us. Yes, God gives us gifts because, like an earthly parent, He delights in being able to do us good and see us benefit.

This word, though, comes in the context of feeding your children. Jesus is talking about giving children the sustenance they need for life itself. In the next breath, he says that God will give us the Holy Spirit if we ask. That doesn’t seem coincidental. That seems like Jesus is saying the Holy Spirit is the thing that we, as believers, need to sustain our very lives. God sending us the Holy Spirit is precisely equal to making sure we have enough food.

If I didn’t eat for a single meal, I would be out of sorts. If I missed two meals, I would be cranky. A whole day? Watch out! Yet it is astonishing how often the believer tries to go without the Spirit from Sunday to Sunday, or maybe a quick Wednesday meal to carry them over. I believe that the Church (big C, not this church, specifically) is chronically malnourished in the Spirit.

What happens when we are malnourished? We feel weak. We waste away. We have poor balance. We are prone to disease and infection. Our bones are brittle. We avoid tasks that will cost us, physically. We don’t think clearly. The opposite is also true, and praise God that it is! If we regularly get filled up with God’s Holy Spirit, everything changes. We become strong. We have vitality. We are stable and unmoved even in trying times. We stay healthy. We have clear thought and good discernment. We take on any challenge with confidence in a positive outcome.

There is nothing like being filled with the Holy Spirit. He is yours for the asking, so ask for him every day. Ask for him with every meal. As often as you pass natural food into your body for strength and health, ask for God’s Spirit to fill you, dwell in you, strengthen and empower you. Pray in the Spirit and activate your faith. Accept the fundamental gift of the good Father above, which He offers you every day. Amen.