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God First, Man Second

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 
I have begun to wonder if Jesus was thinking of my son here in His Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is imagining a son asking for bread and fish. That’s interesting, because all Luke asks for all day long is food. The boy is only 8, but the rest of us will be halfway through a meal and he’ll start eyeing our plates, asking if he can finish our food. Fortunately for him, he has a couple of sisters who don't always finish their food. 

We love him, even though he’ll be the sole reason we need to get a combination lock on our fridge. But we know how to feed him. We like to see him satisfied, even if it doesn’t seem to last for long.

But it is interesting to me what Jesus does here. He calls the audience evil as He compares earthly fathers to God, His Father in Heaven. It's not been very often that I've attempted calling my audiences evil, but it seems to work for Jesus. The crowds eat it up and keep on coming. 

But Jesus' point is clear. In terms of goodness, God comes first and man comes second. It's almost as if God is singing, 'Anything you can do, I can do better!' 

And God is right. He can!








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