At His core, our God is a Father.
Yes, He’s holy.
Yes, He’s powerful.
And, yes, He’s all-knowing.
But these characteristics flow from who He is, not the reverse.
He is not a Father because of these characteristics.
Because He is our Abba God, we can have great assurance that all of His characteristics are pointed toward helping His children to have more spiritual, more satisfying lives.
He really does love us.
Deeply.
With a patient, gracious love.
To think that God knows all of our dirty laundry of the past — and perhaps the present — and yet He still loves us is a compelling thought.
A holy, powerful Father who loves an unholy, weak child is the picture of grace.
It’s a picture of my relationship with the Father.
It’s perhaps your faith picture, too.
I was reminded of God’s amazingly gracious nature when I read this morning from Jeremiah 31.
“Is not Israel still my son, my darling child?” says the Lord.
“I often have to punish him, but I still love him. That’s why I long for him and surely will have mercy on him.” (Jeremiah 31:20)
One can’t read the Old Testament accounts of Israel’s disgusting waywardness and not be repulsed by the choices of so many Hebrews. And yet, God the Father chose to show mercy by keeping His promise to David regarding a messianic descendant in the future raised up from among the Hebrews.
If your life is anything like mine, you know the times that you’ve been disciplined by the Lord because of poor choices or attitudes. You’ve discerned that the Lord saw you as His darling child even though your actions — at least for a moment — treated Him like dirt.
To think that the Lord “longs” for us and desires to show mercy toward us… now that’s a stirring thought.
This, of course, is how we should feel toward the children in our lives, children who mess up now and then and need corrective intercession by parents or grandparents or guardians or whomever.
Listen, my friends. We are dearly loved by God. He longs for us. And when we need it, He will surely have mercy on us.
Let’s do the same for others.
It’s what Christians are to do.
Because that’s what their Father in heaven does.
As always, I love you
Martin
