Our Nature
Posted by Adam Desmond on April 1, 2010
I’ve always thought that my daughter is a pretty good mix of both her parents. I see both of us in her in different situations. Sometimes that is immensely satisfying, sometimes infuriating, sometimes heartbreaking. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a great kid, but I can tell that she’s going to struggle with many of the problems we had to deal with. So in a lot of ways, I see in her the nature we used to have. She is walking the road we’ve been down.
This week I’ve been impressed with the nature of God, and specifically his generosity. There are many examples, in my job, at home, with my family, His nature is to give and so I receive. And the most obvious example is in His Son. Of all the things that have ever been, Jesus was and is the most important. And I believe the most precious to God. Because of all the beings that have ever been, only Jesus shares God’s nature. He is the one and only begotten. I cannot imagine what Jesus means to the Father. Words fail me.
And yet His nature is to give. And so when the need of man presented itself, God’s answer to our problem was to give us that which was most precious in Heaven and Earth. And by giving His Son, He has also given us His nature. We can become His children most when we give.
I’m learning this, painfully slowly it seems, and yet I can tell that this nature is embedded in me, because I want to give it to my daughter. I want others to understand what it is that I’ve been given. And so as Easter comes, we are once again reminded of our most precious gift. And I want to remember that gift not by dressing up and going to church on Sunday. I want to give. I want to grasp the nature of my Father and in so doing, make it my own. I want to give that which is most precious to me – my life.
Of course, I’m anything but the spotless lamb that Jesus is. And yet I want to give my life, blemishes and all, as a reminder of what I’ve been given. As a testimony of the nature that was given to me when Jesus bore the penalty for my sin.
And so I invite you to do the same. Our nature as Christians is to become like our Father. So let us all give of the bounty we’ve received. Have you received something this week that you didn’t deserve? Does someone owe you something? Has someone let you down? Give. Give without reservation. Give with a humble spirit.
Father, impart on your children the birthright of Your nature.
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