“There’s More To Learn”

I saw some photos from the James Webb Space Telescope. Wow, they are incredible. I read that “the Webb’s NIRCam has brought distant galaxies into sharp focus that have never been seen before…. light from galaxies that took billions of years to reach us….. looking back in time to within a billion years after the big bang…. viewing the youngest galaxies in this field.” Yikes, it’s really incredible. While I can repeat some descriptions about these incredible photos, in reality my knowledge is pretty minimal. 

There are many levels of understanding on every subject. The depth of knowledge can range from being able to repeat a sentence, to being an expert….. having spent a lifetime studying it. Yet in reality only God knows the complete story about a topic.  

I was recently struck by the humility of the apostles who asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. These were men of prayer “who knew enough to know they didn’t know it all” and needed to know more. (Luke 11:1-13)

I’ve been saying the Lord’s Prayer since I was a young boy. I’ve heard many teachings on the love of our father in heaven for each of us….. we are sons and daughters of God thru baptism….part of God’s royal family. I’ve even given talks myself on this topic. Yet I’m coming to realize more and more that I’m still a beginner. The depth of God’s love for us is so much greater than I understand. I can still too often see it as a functional relationship where “if I do well, he will give me a pat on the head, but if I screw up I’m in the “dog house” and need to work my way back into his graces.

Yet even as an earthly father I treat my children better than that. I  want everything good for my children…success and joy and prosperity and health, and happiness and eternal life. Jesus speaks to this in Matthew 7…. “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Mt. 7:11)

God wants me to relate to him as his son, with intimacy and confidence as his child. We belong to the family. God wants us to have the confidence and courage to draw near to him. and not be afraid to approach him at any time…. with the devotion of sons and daughters. God the father wants us to interrupt him when we’re in need or just want to talk. Our father in heaven is always available to us. I was watching the Home Run Derby at the Baseball Allstar Game the other night. I  noticed the player’s children interacting with their famous fathers…men who a stranger would be hesitant to approach. The kids were comfortable. Others kept them at arm’s length, but the kids just walked in, interrupted them, gave them  hugs. To the kids they weren’t bigger than life, famous, awesome heroes…they were their father. 

So, let’s seek to learn more about our great God, and let’s especially allow him to show us how much he loves us and is for us and will not ever abandon us. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:16) There’s so much more we need to know about the love of God for us, and it’s all good….it’s all good news.