This morning I had the opportunity to teach at Harvest, the church my family and I have begun attending in Washington, IN. About two weeks ago my friend Mo Brennaman asked if I'd be willing to cover in his absence. While I doubt that I'll ever voluntarily run after the pulpit, I also suspect that I'll never decline the chance. It seems something that should be accepted with humility as opposed to rejected out of hand. Certainly, I was honored, humbled and more than a bit conscious of my own daily shortcomings.
After a week of observing illustrations in my own life and in the lives of my friends, I chose a text from Matthew 17:22-27. Here's the general idea -- every day our Father shows His love for us in a million specific ways. Hence the title. That is: can you imagine attempting to write a software program that moves an unfathomable number of dynamic details, willing and unwilling, in to the proper position so that your best interests are realized on any given day. Now, how about writing that program so that it happens more than once. How about ensuring that it happens on multiple occasions each day, day in and day out. And now try to manage not for one individual but for millions of folks. You can't; but He can. Read the text and try to imagine how many details were moved and for how long to ensure that the right fish was on the right line for the right person at the right time.
So here's the point: God loves you. Not something you haven't heard before. Nothing remarkably profound about reiterating that lesson (although God's love for you is pretty much the definition of "profound.") But here's what is behind the point -- God loves you specifically. He loves YOU specifically; and He loves you in a SPECIFIC way. Because you are an individual. And because he is your Father. And because you are his child. If you have children, think about the specifics of your love for them. Think of the actions you take to individually reiterate your love. If you have a significant other, think of the same. Now think about it in the sense that God is your Father and/or (in the truest sense of the word) your significant other. And while you're at it, check out my thesis against these verses: Matthew 28:20, John 3:16, Matthew 6:8, Isaiah 65:24 and Jeremiah 1:5. God loves you, specifically you, as an individual you, and shows it in a million specific ways every day.
Which begs the question: if in fact what I am proposing is true and accurate and correct, how should you and I respond?
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