by Janella Schnepp

Created on: October 14, 2009   Last Updated: July 07, 2010

As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Rom. 9:13

Tonight as I was putting my son to bed, he looked at me and said: "Mom, I have a very strange question to ask you about God."

My son's questions border on strange and all are challenging. His mind works different from most of his. Where most of us start at A travel to B through C, D, E, and F to get to G, his mind travels from A to Z and through points R, O, L, maybe K and I to get to G. And he will undoubtedly come to some conclusion that never crossed our minds. One of the most interesting things about this is that two years down the road he will come to you and say: "Do you remember when I did thus and such and you yelled at me. You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done thus and such."

He can be impulsive and instinctive in his queries - either requests for information or prayer. It got to the point for a while that I would sensor his prayer requests at church.

Anyway, he looks at me tonight and says: "Mom, does God have favorites."

I took a deep breath, said a silent prayer and said: "No. God doesn't have favorites. Favoritism is a bad thing. God loves everyone equally."

The entire time I'm speaking to him, I'm praying and trying to decided how to reckon the verse above - and several others verse. . . "Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord" and the part of the Bible where David is called a man after God's own heart.

How did I justify my response in light of these verses and passages?

I asked my son what his relationship with my mother was like. He said it was a good, close relationship. Then I asked him what his cousin's relationship with my mother was like. He acknowledged that his relationship was existing, but that was all. That my mother made the effort to have a relationship with him, but my nephew participates little in that relationship.

And I reminded him that God doesn't force us to have a relationship with Him. God pursues us and lovingly woos us. But we have to choose to serve Him. We have to choose a relationship with Him.

Throughout the scriptures, God makes it abundantly clear that there are people He has a closer relationship with than others. The list is lengthy but can be found in totality in the book of Hebrews. Abel, Abraham, Noah, Enoch to name just a few from that chapter. But there were also David and Job. The Bible makes it pretty clear that when we search for God, He will be found by us.

So, today - this morning - the question then remains. Does God have favorites? I say that the answer is a resounding "NO!"

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