Colossians 1:8–10

"He [Epaphras] has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you. So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better."

 

There is a wonderful prayer here, tucked in among words that show the goal: lives pleasing to God, love for others, and knowing God better each day. The prayer? For complete knowledge of what God wants to do in our lives, and spiritual wisdom and understanding. What a good prayer to pray for your spouse, children, church leaders, and anyone you care about! You can know it will be answered, because it's a prayer God's word teaches us to pray.

Jeremiah 3:2–4

"'Look at the shrines on every hilltop.
     Is there any place you have not been defiled
     by your adultery with other gods?
You sit like a prostitute beside the road waiting for a customer.
     You sit alone like a nomad in the desert.
You have polluted the land with your prostitution
     and your wickedness.
That's why even the spring rains have failed.
     For you are a brazen prostitute and completely shameless.
Yet you say to me,
     "Father, you have been my guide since my youth.
    Surely you won't be angry forever!
    Surely you can forget about it!"
So you talk,
     but you keep on doing all the evil you can.'"

 

The people called God "Father" and said he was their guide "since youth," but it was not so! They were sinning in many ways, and at the root was idolatry—looking to something other than God to meet their needs. Though the people were sinning grievously, to them it was a little thing, something surely God would forget about. We tend to minimize sin. Our only true perspective of what's sinful is God's Word. What is it saying to you about any area where you're trusting "other gods" rather than the God?

Jeremiah 3:19

"'I thought to myself,
     'I would love to treat you as my own children!'
I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land—
     the finest possession in the world.
I looked forward to your calling me 'Father,'
     and I wanted you never to turn from me."

 

Here is a glimpse into God's heart. He loves to treat us as his children. Loves to bless us. Loves us to call him Father and depend on him. He longs to give us good things as we trust in him. Bask in God's love for you today. Call him Father and ask him for whatever you need, trusting him as a little child would trust his or her father. For so you are, and so he is!