A Fathers' Day Thought

A thought about Fathers day!

I hope that all you Dads out there had a great Fathers day! Perhaps you had breakfast in bed, a gift, a card or something like that to celebrate a day in honour of all Dads everywhere.

Sometimes Fathers Day can be a bit difficult for some people, especially if that Father/child relationship hasn’t been quite what it should. As I was thinking about different feelings that people might have about Fathers day, I started to think of the kind of role models that are around, some better than others; and I was reminded that the best example of a Father that we will ever have is, of course, our Heavenly Father.

Jesus, when he walked the earth used stories to illustrate what God was like, or what Heaven was like and these are called parables. One of these stories is the Parable of the lost son. This story shows what God is like as a Father.

‘Once a man had two sons. The younger son said to his father, “Give me my share of the property.” So the father divided his property between his two sons. Not long after that, the younger son packed up everything he owned and left for a foreign country, where he wasted all his money in wild living. He had spent everything, when a bad famine spread through the whole land. Soon he had nothing to eat. He went to work for a man in that country, and the man sent him out to take care of his pigs. He would have been glad to eat what the pigs were eating, but no one gave him a thing.
Finally, he came to his senses and said, “My father’s workers have plenty to eat, and here I am, starving to death! I will go to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against God in heaven and against you. I am no longer good enough to be called your son. Treat me like one of your workers.’”
The younger son got up and started back home to his father, but when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt sorry for him. He ran to his son and hugged and kissed him.
The son said, “Father, I have sinned against God in heaven and against you, I am no longer good enough to be called your son.”
But his father said to his servants, “Hurry and bring the best clothes and put them on him. Give him a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. Get the best calf and prepare it, so we can eat and celebrate. This son of mine was dead, but has now come back to life. He was lost and has now been found.” And they began to celebrate.’
(Luke 15:11-24 CEV)

This story shows us that God is the kind of Father who never gives up on us. It tells us that when the son was coming home the father saw him and ran to him. It shows that he was watching out for the return of his son, never giving up hope. And that’s what it’s like with us.

Even when we feel that we are very far from God, He never gives up on us, He never stops loving us, and when we return to Him He rejoices over us.

If you are far from God, return to Him now and there’ll be a father waiting to throw His arms around you, and to show you just how much He loves you.

Captain Wendy Parkhill