Clifford

“‘This is the covenant I will make’…declares the Lord. ‘I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.” Hebrews 8:10-11.

There are few emotions as powerful as those we associate with comfort from our childhood. I experienced this yesterday when I was with my 24 year old son. When he was born he was given a brown stuffed animal dog with long floppy ears who he eventually named Clifford. He took Clifford everywhere he went from the moment he awakened until bedtime with Clifford tightly tucked under his arm. Yesterday, while at a store, Michael came up to me holding a replica of Clifford with his expression being that of a three year old. As soon as he saw the stuffed animal emotions stirred in his heart lifting up memories of joy, comfort and love. Michael was his master and Clifford was Michael’s joy. Michael treasured in his heart all of the things that Clifford shared with him along the journey of childhood.

When we decide to spend time in the Word we allow our Father to communicate important truths, promises and comforts to our hearts. We come as children with blank hearts for Him to begin the beautiful process of exchanging our perceptions for His truths, and our hurts for His healing. His words are communicated to us through the Holy Spirit becoming our own ‘Clifford’s of comfort’ evoking love, confidence and security in our lives. We are able to carry our spiritual comfort with us from morning to night tucked securely in our hearts. This comfort that comes from our Father is available to everyone who in on this earth. No one will have to depend on others to provide this emotional fellowship and love for God gives freely and personally to all who love Him.

God promises that if we will open our minds and hearts to Him the ink will never run dry and the words will never fall short. As we grow in our Christian walk, we will treasure the things for which we have experienced with our Lord, and hold dear the shared time we spend with our Father.