Matthew, Why Are You Our Son?

JAN. 31, 1981, 6:15 AM
W. WILLOW, STUDY

You have taken the privilege, o son, of selecting the theme for this Sunday morning. It is a worthy one, for you must have a conference with this last of your sons today. This shall be a provocative question to him… to explore what value he puts upon the relationship called son.

Matthew is your son by chance and by choice. Though all conceptions are a matter of chance, that which produced his body and mind certainly was. You were not planning another child, but the conception was real and good. And you quickly came to anticipate this child of chance. The choice aspect was his to make. He chose you for reasons several that I shall not reveal. Just know that, yes, he purposed to be this youngest of your sons, “he” being the spirit that is in Matthew Renwick.

I also had a hand in the choice, for I also have purposed for him to be in your midst. I have told you before that I have tasks for Matthew, and he shall turn to Me and assume them. Oh, he shall have a choice, theoretically, but it shall not be a free one. This is something I want and need.

The actions which characterize his life now, including this criminal one, are not of My direction, of course. He has no particular direction or purpose to his life now, and so he does what he does. The results are not pleasing to him, and that is pleasing to Me. But he has no motivation, yet, to act in a different pattern. That shall come, certainly, and this could be an incident that hastens the shift. All that he is doing now is background from which he shall turn. As long as it is not excessively harmful it shall be instructive, in negative ways.

You have not experienced what he has… and not what Peter experienced. You realize that this is a disadvantage in your being a father. If you had felt and acted in ways similar you could be more empathetic and, you think, more helpful. But you came toward maturity in a less defensive and destructive way. And it has been (and still is) an important experience for you to have the experience of sons whose lives have been, by chance and by choice, different from yours. All of these interrelationships are clear only to Me. You shall be able to see them more clearly in retrospect as this life proceeds, but not with the clarity that shall come in other realms. And you shall be able to appreciate them only in the approximation to Me that your maturity in the spirit allows. That is not yet close to Mine.

Matthew has great potential, and it sorrows Me to see that go undeveloped now. Still, it is not a new experience for Me, by any means. In times of old I waited many years for souls to turn and do My bidding. My own ministry as Jesus did not begin until I was 30, and though My early life was not destructive it was a time of preparation. I was not ready at seventeen to step forth into ministry. At that age I was not at all sure what I was to be about.

Matthew cannot give you a ringing prophetic answer to your title – question, but he shall know and come to feel that he is your son for a purpose. It shall be of eventual spiritual benefit to him that he is your son… and of equal benefit to you. I have no time-table for his development, but the sooner he will acknowledge My call the better it shall be for all of us. But this is something he must do… with real purpose in his spirit.

You envision a change of attitude and a gaining of purpose. You envision his studying to learn truly rather than just to minimally fulfill assignments. You envision his talking with you of some of his learnings. You envision his developing a yearning for matters spiritual… even for the church. These are fine visions, which may or may not come true soon. Don’t let them hinder the reality of the present, however. You shall love him as he is. That is your spiritual opportunity. He can only become from who he is now. That is an important being also. Balance the real and actual with the ideal. Know that I am with you all, especially.

Wait diligently.
7:18 AM