Have you ever thought of yourself as ‘the favorite?’ You know, the one Mom or Dad treated better, and you were pretty sure they loved more, too.
How about ‘the favored?’ The employee that the boss catered to or went the extra mile to keep happy. Have you ever thought you were that special person?
I have a confession to make. I have been neither of those, but it is OK with me because I am God’s favorite!
Yes, there are days when I absolutely know that God gives me more favor and loves me more than anyone else on the face of the Earth. What a love it is that lifts my head and makes me smile.
Guess what? You, too, are His favorite. I do hope you know that feeling, as well. For God, all of us are His favorites.
Psalm 145 says, “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.”
He created us, He wants nothing but the best for us, and He is willing to bless us with all He has.
What’s the catch? That is exactly it. We must catch that love from God and return it with all our might.
We see how little children look up at their fathers with those adoring eyes, wanting to imitate what Dad is doing. That is exactly what God desires to see in our eyes. It would be His delight to know we want to imitate Him.
His longing is that we would be a follower of the words and actions of Jesus. We should seek to speak and act as Jesus did on Earth, and does now in heaven, always doing the Father’s will.
During Jesus’ entire time on Earth, He never failed to love.
He spoke to His disciples in love and even when disciplining them, it was with love to make them stronger so they would be able to endure. He loved them with all His heart, and He loves us that same way.
If we can envision a father whose wayward child is about to run out in front of a car, that is surely how our heavenly Father feels about potentially losing us due to our own negligence or thoughtlessness.
The Apostle John tells us, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
God’s love is real love. It is not what the world calls love. This is true, unadulterated, pure, and holy love. That is love with a capital ‘L.’
Is every day for me a good day surrounded and warmed by God’s love? Being honest, I have to say, “No.” I am not always aware of God’s loving me and sometimes I even wonder if He might be mad or disappointed with me. Even on those rough days, though, I am assured His love does not dwindle for me.
When I am out of sorts, I ask God to show me what I am missing or avoiding. Is it something that I’m doing or maybe not doing? He may have asked me to do something, and I failed to follow through. Like King David, who asked God to search him and find anything that might be out of order, I need to do the same. King David followed up by asking God to lead him in His ways.
Sometimes, I find that I lose my love connection with God because I am not praying sufficiently – me taking the time to talk with God. I need to seek my Father’s direction each day, so that I am loving Him as much as He is loving me.
If the connection is lost or weak, it is usually because of my lack of communication. God continues to love me, but I fail to feel it because I have distanced myself beyond those golden rays.
The answer for me is to get back to prayer. I usually talk to God all day as I go about my various tasks but somedays my devotion of Bible reading is too harried and somedays my prayer is just perfunctory. That doesn’t draw me into God’s love any more than texting while my husband, Neil, is talking to me.
It is rude and I am doing neither of us any favors nor am I honoring God or Neil.
I love being in God’s care. I trust God with every aspect of my life, but I need to be attentive and not become complacent with God any more than I would with my husband or other loved ones.
My prayer is that you, too, know you are one of God’s favorites and if you aren’t feeling that way today, maybe you can join me in my efforts to speak to Him more, to read His Word more, and to make sure we join our fellow ‘favorite ones’ in worship every week. I look forward to seeing your beautiful face in the Kingdom, fellow favorite one!
ED. NOTE: Amy Patsch writes from Ocean City. Email her at writerGoodGod@gmail.com.
