Last Thursday my granddaughter Alyx turned twenty-one. During the first few years of her life she was my companion every opportunity she had. Because of this, she taught me many lessons about God’s love and my relationship to Him.
Ø Alyx taught me that family is based on love. She and her family had no blood or marriage relationship to us; but she was the real catalyst that makes us include them in our family, and our boys’ families see them as the same. They are involved in holiday and other family get-togethers. In the same way, we are included in God’s family based on His love for us. We are born again into His family and then He adapts us as children and makes us heirs of eternal life. And the whole family, the church, welcomes all of His children into our fellowship.
Ø Alyx taught me that love is an unconditional choice. Not only did I choose to love her, that love was without any condition on her behavior. She could do nothing wrong. Spilled milk, watching Disney instead of the football game, staying awake far past my bedtime, and such things were overlooked. In the same way, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1) and “If we walk in the Light, as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (I John 1:7). God loves us in spite of our weaknesses and failures.
Ø Alyx taught me that everything I owned was also hers. The church had given me a recliner that everyone recognized as “papa’s chair” except Alyx. If was in it, so was she. When I was not using it, she was. She ate in it, napped in it, and was reluctant to share it—except with me. But God’s blessings are the same. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32) and we are “fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17) so that as His children we can claim all His blessings.
Ø Alyx taught me about the importance of presence. Whether it was at home or in my office, she just wanted to be with me. She would be down in the floor, playing or drawing pictures—usually of me—and would frequently look up and say “Papa, I love you.” Even if I was seemingly busy and paying no attention to her, I was always aware she was there and her words let me know she knew it. This is the way we should live in God’s presence. He is always there, never ignoring us. And as we “pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17) it should be easy to look up and say, “Father, I love You” or “Thank You for loving me.”
Ø Alyx taught me that she wanted to go anywhere I did. Every time I left the house she wanted to go with me and she never asked where because it did not matter to her. Papa was going and she was going with him because it would not be anywhere that was not good for her. In the same way, I need to be willing to go with God wherever He leads me. It will not be “into temptation” (Matthew 6:13) even though He does allow us to undergo “the testing of our faith” (James 1:3). I can go wherever He leads, because He is always with me. Alyx showed me this in a special way when one day we ran out of gas on a narrow back road. As we walked to a house down the road when a car would come I would pick her up and walk in the weeds completely off the pavement. She was neither afraid or worried, she knew Papa would care for her. In the same way, even when danger is nearby, God will pick me up and carry me and I need not fear, because Jesus promised “I will be with you always” (Matthew 28:20).
Ø Alyx taught me to ask for what I really need. On that occasion we were out of gas as we neared a house where a man was mowing his yard, I said we could ask to use his phone (before I had a cell phone). She said, “Why don’t you ask him to use his gas?” She realized that we needed gas, not a phone and when I asked if he had some gas he provided a nearly full five gallon can and told me to use, go on to the ball game, and return it full later in the day. His generosity meant we were able to be on time instead of waiting for help to come and being late for the game. God wants me to ask boldly for what I need from Him. “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).
When we learn about God’s love, all He asks is that we love Him in return.
WM (All scripture quotations from NASB)