WARNING PREACHY
A few years ago I went away to a convention and left the
family at home. Before I left, I made a
couple dozen notes that said “Who’s Your
Daddy?” on them, then I hid them around the house where people would find
them.
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I taped them to the underside of toilet seats
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I rolled them up into the toilet paper so that
when someone pulled off pieces the note would fall out.
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I taped them inside of kitchen cupboards and
medicine cabinets
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I put them in books that were being read
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I taped them to walls
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And I put them under things that might be moved.
My thought for doing this was that over the three days I was
gone they would intermittently find the notes and be reminded of me. What happened, however, was that the family
considered it a fun challenge and spent the first evening searching and finding
the majority of the notes and then likely forgot about me for three days.
I left the notes because I wanted my children to remember
me. I always want my kids to remember
who their daddy is. It’s just
important. That however is genealogy. But what about spiritually? Figuring out who our daddy is spiritually is
an altogether different matter.
Spiritually speaking,
who is our daddy? Or more respectfully,
who is our God?
The answer to this question can vary greatly?
- Many believe that God is a vengeful god who is
just waiting for us to break one the commandments so he can throw a lightning
bolt at us.
- Many believe that God is a fun-loving god who
laughs at us when we ignore his ways and live our lives for our own pleasures.
- Many people believe that god is one who demands
that his followers destroy the “ungodly” in order to secure our places in
heaven
- Some believe that god is one who forgives all
people all infraction in this life basically turning a blind-eye to everything.
- And others believe that god is a conglomerate of
many different faith ideals.
The question of who God is is not an easy question to
answer, because if we’re going to be honest, then we must admit that the God who actually exists is many levels of
understanding beyond what our human brains can imagine or conceive.
But, thankfully we do
have guidance.
John 14:8-9
8 Philip
said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus
said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you
still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
Jesus informs his disciples that if they have seen Him then
they have seen the Father.
At this point, the disciples must have thought him mad. He not only compared himself to God, but in
essence told them that He and God were one in the same. And it would not be the first time either.
John 5:15-18
15 The man went away and told the Jews
that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 And this was why the
Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But
Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” 18 This was why the Jews were
seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath,
but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
And this is how John’s gospel
goes. It pounds the idea, over and over again, that Jesus and God
are one in the same.
Then the Apostle Paul informs us
that we too are children of the Father when he wrote in his letter to the
Ephesians.
Ephesians 1
3 Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as
he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and blameless before him. In love 5 he
predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the
purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of
his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
And because we are the children of God, we are privileged in
that we may go boldly before Him.
Hebrews 4:16
16 Let
us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Do
you ever feel intimidated about praying? Like you don’t have the right to talk to
God? This idea of separation from our
heavenly father is just wrong. Each of
us, who are of the faith, have the extreme privilege to go to God and enter
into His Presence.
Have
you ever seen that iconic picture of President John
F Kennedy sitting at the desk in the oval office and his son, Johnny, playing
under it? I like this photo because it
shows the privilege of a father’s child.
Here was the most powerful man in the world in the most powerful office
in the world and his three year old son was playing peek-a-boo under his desk. The child had no fear or reservations; he was
boldly playing in the presence of his father without hesitation.
This is how it is with children, they
know who their daddies are and instinctively do not fear being in their
presence.
Spiritually
speaking, who’s your daddy?
I cannot imagine that God doesn’t
want us to know who He is. In fact, the
scriptures tell us that the very creation is like notes forcing the question “Who’s
Your Daddy?”
1. Look
at a sunrise? - There’s a hidden note in
it asking, “Who’s your daddy?”
2. Taste
a fresh pineapple. – There it is again, “Who’s your daddy?”
3. Witness
the birth of your child. – Who’s your daddy?
4. Have
a cup of fresh roasted single origin coffee. – Who - Is – Your - Daddy?
Today is the day that we honor
our human father’s, and this is fitting.
But in the process of honoring our human dads, we must not forget to honor
our heavenly father as well. And if ever
we are unsure, let us remember the words of our Lord, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
“Lord Jesus, please open our eyes of faith,
that we may see you today.”
