Luke, I Am Your Father!
By Tendai Kawadza
If this is the worst entry you’ve read so far, thank Evan Johnson! He tasked me with a blog entry and gave very little guidance, I’ll take a stab at it though.
As a husband and father some of my happiest moments are not when we go on an outing or vacation - they are the spontaneous moments at home when somehow both my kids end up in my lap and we’re face to face laughing. It’s tough to come to terms with the fact that these kind of moments won’t last forever. It has been quite a transition over the last few years, moving from being a son and a brother to taking on the additional role of a husband and, for the last almost four years, father.
The bible gives us many references for the nature of our relationship to God - King, Father, Lord, etc - so the way I look at it is we have a father who happens to be a king and also created the universe. God has called us his children (Gal. 3:26). His desire is to have a familial relationship with us, Christian or not (Gal. 4:4-7). One of the reasons it’s so important to understand God in the father context is a father’s care. Their kids drive them to be better. They want their kids to do well, even exceed them. Many people who have scars from their earthly father have a tough time with this concept. If this is you, take some time and ask him to deepen your relationship so you not only see him as Lord but also as father. The world’s message about God is that he’s some kind of puppet master, man-behind-the-curtain character who just wants people to obey him and abide by his rules.
However, when we start seeing ourselves as his children we move further away from that worldly mindset. We see a father who wants what’s best for us: "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give the holy spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:11-13. We also see a father who’ll do anything for us (John 3:16). So maybe you've had daddy drama, join the club - find encouragement, you have a heavenly father who delights in you (Zeph. 3:17), a father who’ll never leave you nor forsake you (Joshua 1:5).
