Hey, it's Father's Day. May it be a good one for all of you fathers out there. May it put you in mind to be the father you're meant to be. May it put us children in mind to honor our fathers.
I believe that becoming a parent in this life of the flesh is a large part of God's plan to enable us to better understand him as our heavenly Father.
When one has a child there is usually a great transformation within them on many levels, an amazing love blooms that can hardly be understood by those who haven't experienced it, while care and protectiveness rise up within. In having children of our own and reacting in the pattern of love that God designed into us I believe God gives us a glimpse of how he feels toward us as His children. He shows us what it's like to have children - through the very pattern that he has carved. This holds true throughout the whole act of raising a child, from sweet infancy to sour adolescence. A child is a gift of course, being one of the surest portals to experiencing joy and love if we'll let it, and a way of putting things into perspective and teaching us many things, but we can also learn firsthand what it's like to see our beloved children turn to acts of disobedience and rebellion, and what it's like to be merciful in spite of that. I believe that becoming a parent is a way of better understanding our relationship with God, of understanding the true heart of the Father whose likeness we are created in.
Contrary to this is the lies spread by those who hate God and desire his children to rebel, who attempt to paint God as petty, sadistic, and eager to curse us. This is not the biblical picture, it's not the natural picture engraved in our hearts, it's the successful work of the spiritual enemy that permeates our culture and understanding (for example, the commonly taught picture of judgment and 'hell' isn't even remotely biblical!). However, even those who think ill of God tend to look kindly upon Jesus. Well, as Hebrew 1:3 states: "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and <i>the exact representation of his being</i>".
If you devote yourself to contemplating this whole parenthood subject, tied firmly to biblical study, there is really no bottom to it, and I think you'll find what I'm saying is true. I think there is a sacredness in parenthood that bears much thinking about.
The other side of this coin is the fact that we as children learn how to relate to our parents, to know unconditional love, to feel safety and to trust absolutely, to learn obedience and how and why to honor our parents. Again, this is the pattern that God deliberately established and I believe it points to our relationship to Him. To understand God I think we'd do well to always consider the natural patterns written in our hearts and ignore the foolish teachings of corrupt men.
One of the ten commandments is to: "honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you." The expectation to honour our parents is absolute, and while this applies to our human parents it also certainly points to honoring God and his will with the very life he has given us. Paul, in Ephesians, pointed out that it was the first commandment with a promise attached ('that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth'). Father's Day and Mother's Day puts honouring our parents into focus, but we must be careful to always honor them as best we know how, and to guard our very thoughts against slandering them, or ultimately cursing them or God - it will not be well with us if we do so without repentance.
As I rolled out of bed today I felt inclined to write this, I'm not looking for replies, I just hope it provokes some thought. Congrats to all of you parents out there.
Solomon, the father of David, wrote:
My son...
![[:P]](./images/smilies/smilie_wag.gif "Razz")
