God’s Favorite
April 21, 2020
As a kid, I remember the competition for attention in my household. I was one of six kids. 5th child. 2nd daughter. Not the youngest. Not the smartest. Not the bravest. And so on. My busy parents did their best to pay attention to all of us. But, wow, when I think about what they were trying to do, I can’t even imagine how they managed! I say all this not to complain, but to suggest that there was intense competition for the favored status, for the time, or for the attention of my parents. You might be familiar with that sort of competition for a finite resource.
Julie Powers (third from right) with her siblings and father at Dead Timber State Park, Nebraska in 1967.
It is natural that we would compare our relationship with God the Father to our relationship with our human parent and think of God’s time and attention as finite resources as well. Why is God blessing my sister, and not me? My co-worker gets all the breaks and I don’t get any. The competition heats up and the jealousy starts to creep in. But, I have some good news for you. The Bible has something to say about favoritism, and it is stated many different ways throughout the Bible:
You (Jesus) do not show personal favoritism (Luke 20:21)
God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34)
For there is no partiality with God (Romans 2:11)
There is no partiality in Him (Ephesians 6:9)
God shows personal favoritism to no man (Galatians 2:6)
Who without partiality judges according to each one’s work (1 Peter 1:17)
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave or free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26-28 (NKJV)
Jesus Christ leveled the playing field. By accepting Jesus into my life, I am in right standing with God and I have equal access to God the Father as any other believer. I am judged based on my own actions and not compared unfavorably to any other believer. I used to compare myself to other believers and wish I had their gifts and talents. But, God has whispered in my ear that I only have to do what God asked me to do. The gifts He put in me are perfectly suited to the work of the Kingdom, and He is counting on me to do my part. And even more than that, as I use the gifts He has given me, He gives me more gifts. Praise, God!
A bible teacher of mine used to say, “I am God’s favorite!” At first this was off-putting, but as my understanding of God and of my redemption through Jesus expanded, I saw what he meant. He is God’s favorite. I am God’s favorite. You are God’s favorite - if you have become a believer in Jesus. We limit the limitless God when we think the God of the Universe can’t have billions of favorite children. I find it comforting to know that God does not favor one over another. I am not in competition for a scarce resource. I have a personal relationship with a limitless God. I have the time and attention of a limitless God. Amen to that!
