Devotional: She Has My Nature

Read John 1:1-5 I am a blessed man. I was born into a household with a mother, father, brothers, and sisters who loved each other and the children were taught to take care of each other. In my adult life, I have seen my brothers and sisters demonstrate this love time and time again; especially when one was sick or had financial and other needs. I believe that my parents knew me well while they were living. I believe that my brothers and sisters know me well too. I have a wife that has shared my life for twenty-seven years and a daughter. I believe that my daughter who has known me for a shorter period of time knows me better than any of my family members and friends. My friends know some things about me. They may know about things that I like and don’t like. I have only five sisters still living today out of the fourteen children born into our family of nine girls and five boys. They have a lot of memories about me and my life over the years. Yet, it is my daughter that knows me best. In some ways she has always known me better than anyone else. I share with my brothers and sisters the nature of my mother and father. On the other hand it is my daughter that shares with me my own unique nature. She understands me in ways like no other because of our relationship to each other and our shared nature. In the Gospel of John, the writer tells us that Jesus shares a unique relationship with God. They have the same nature. Before Jesus was made flesh He was the Word of God (vv.1, 14). They shared together in the creation of the world. Thus, to know Jesus is to know God. In the same way that Jesus did what He saw the Father doing (5:19-20), I believe that my daughter knows me better than others because she has observed me differently than others. Our shared nature gives us an affinity to each other enabling us to learn from each other in ways unlike anyone else. Father we thank you for the Holy Spirit that enables us to share in your nature. Having your nature in us helps us to know you better and draws us closer to you each day. Amen!