The Lord has had me pondering questions of late. You know the questions I am speaking of the “hows”, the “whens”, the “why’s”. Those big questions that can rattle around in our hearts and spirit for days. Those questions that often we do not ever receive the “concrete” answer we seek yet, instead, we discover the answer is simply God… His promises, His Truth, and His character.
Since I love when ideas and thoughts connect, I find it quite exciting that the our theme for Gather this year is just such a question…. “How Much More?” As we read in Matthew, we discover that this concept of the “how much more” is a part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. He was preaching on a mountain side to His disciples. He was there on the mountain probably in part because word of all His mighty acts and teachings had grown and he needed to break away from the people. It is here in this moment, following his time of teaching, proclaiming and healing in Galilee (Matt 4:23)….displaying God’s power in and through Him, that He stops to teach His disciples some important Truths. It is near the end of this now famous “sermon’ that we hear him declare these words: “…how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!”
As I ponder these words today, I am a bit blown away. Jesus declares this idea of “how much more” to the disciples after just they have witnessed Him “healing every disease and sickness among the people” (Matt. 4:23). They had just dropped everything in their lives to follow this man who was drawing people to God with His words and His power. I am sure they thought to themselves there is not much more that God could do or give than they had already seen!
YET… we know there was, indeed, SO much more in Jesus’ ministry on earth and, even more in His sacrificial death and resurrection. This was a “much more” that even the disciples could not at that time even begin to comprehend. Oh the good gift waiting to be revealed to them!
So why the question now? Why should we continue to press into the “How Much More”? We sit on the other side of His death and resurrection… we have beheld His power. His Word is active and alive still today. This proclamation is for us as God’s children today as well. While we have seen how much He can do and give us, there is MORE to come…. “exceedingly more than we can ask or imagine.” (Eph. 3:20)
Take a peek at the promises in Revelation 21… the promise of all things new. A promise for which I believe we can read, believe, and long but I am not sure we can truly grasp. While our loving Father does have many good gifts He desires to bestow upon us here on earth, the greatest gift is His promise of eternity through His Son, Jesus Christ. An eternity, a gift, that I believe is SO MUCH MORE than we could ever, ever imagine. So as we ponder this question: “How much more?”, let us purpose to set our hearts on eternity in order to grasp the fullness of the answer. This really means that the ultimate answer is MORE OF HIM! Thanks be to our Heavenly Father who loves us beyond what we can imagine.
Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Psalm 37:4
I
Margaret Franklin 