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| Thursday, May 28, 2009
Devotional: Desire for His children Writer: Ronald Wong"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" 1 John 3:1. Michael Card, Christian singer-songwriter, author and pastor, shared in the recent El-Shaddai Conference about what God's written word meant to him. He shared that the Bible to him speaks of one simple thing: God’s desire for intimacy with his children. He explained by drawing an analogy with his own relationship with his children. When his children were young toddlers, they had to be taught in a restrictive way through rules and laws: don't play with fire, wander about on your own nor speak to strangers. When they broke the rules, he had to punish them. Sometimes he got angry and upset and scolds them, perhaps unduly. Sometimes he got disappointed but gently reasons with them. As his children grew older, and went through the tumultuous years as teenagers, he could no longer relate to them through those rules and laws. Instead, he would go on "dates" to share his life to them, and they would too in return. Through such conversations, they would learn more about their father and his hopes for their lives. The Bible describes God's relationship with us as such. God the Father gave his children the law not so that he could punish them when they break the rules but to protect them : from one another, hurt, pain, unrighteousness, distancing themselves from him (the first 3 of the 10 commandments, Exodus 20:3-7), sin, and hence ultimately, death (Romans 6:23) - the eternal separation from the Father (John 17:3). As the Bible proceeds chronologically, we find that the Father continues to speak through his commissioned judges and prophets. One after another, he raises from among his children, someone who would speak his word boldly and execute his will. Time and again, when his children stumbled and turned away to other gods, he would still show mercy and deliver them from their anguish. The entire book of Judges describe such a period of time. In fact, that period seems almost reminiscent of a period of adolescence, of rebel and disobedience. That phase lasted a long time till Jesus. Jesus Christ changed the way we understood Father and children. He was the Word of God (John 1:1), the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), the radiance of God's glory, and the exact representation of his being (Hebrews 1:3). As the son, this child reflected exactly what the Father wanted his children to be. In order for his children to be like him, he had to let his son die. In doing so, the Father revealed his heart for us on the cross, where he gave up the son that he loved to love us. Through Jesus' sacrifice, we, the prodigal children can return home, and be adopted as God's children (Galatians 3:26). How much the Father desires for us to be his children, that he took the first step to reconcile the gap between man and Life! We are mature children through our understanding of God's love for us. It seems that the only appropriate response is to reciprocate this desire: to long to know him, spend time with him, be with him, and love him with all that we can give (Matthew 22:37), just as he has already given all he could give. We love him because he first loved us (1 John 4: 19).
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