I had slept in yesterday and was running late. The radio show I usually listen to was over so I groped around my car for a CD to listen to. God picked out a good one - The Book of John.
It was good to hear those stories again. Jesus and Nicodemus, turning water into wine, the woman at the well . . . but the story that touched my heart that day was from John 5. The story of a father's love for his son.
I invite you to look at this picture that my daughter-in-law took of her son and her husband - my son. What an amazing picture! It says a lot all by itself. I also invite you to read this passage from John 5, then take another look at the picture.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does" - John 5:19-20
Jesus was, of course, talking about HIS Father, Our Father in heaven. Jesus spent His whole life doing what His Father taught Him, speaking the words his Father wanted Him to say. The life that Jesus lived prompted God to say this about His Son.
“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." - Matthew 17:5
I look at this picture from a unique point of view - the father of the son (no capital letters). It's not hard to watch my son now, teaching HIS son, and not feel proud. This is MY son with whom I am well pleased.
Still, I find it hard to imagine God's love for us, that He would send His one and only Son, the Son He loved, to die on our behalf. If you think that God does not love you, think again.
Unless you have children it is hard to understand what self-sacrificing, unconditional love is. Walking around at 2:00 AM, carrying a child who has an ear infection or is colicky. Caring for a sick child, not caring in you yourself get sick. You only want your child to get well.
But to see your child, grown, and doing the same thing for their child. Loving THEM unconditionally . . . well, that is very special indeed. It kind of makes me wonder . . . how God must have felt, watching His Son honoring Him in all that He did.
So on this day I pray for all of the world's fathers as they teach their sons. May they do what is right in your eyes, God. I pray also for the sons. One day they will be fathers themselves, teaching their sons the same things. And may we all do what is right in your eyes, Father. May we make YOU proud of us in the way we live our lives. Always serving, always loving, always intentionally teaching our sons and daughters your ways, with the same unconditional love that you first showed us. This is how we will honor you, by living . . . in your eyes.
"Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it." - Proverbs 22:6
In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
You Raise Me Up - Westlife
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