God, the Father
Hi everyone, it's Eli.
I don't write as much here due to time and a million other constraints from life, which is sad. I love what we have here and what we are doing here. It truly gives me joy to know that this is a space where we can share and love the Father, God. That's through praise, worship, reading and music. I love it all and truly consider myself to be edified by the articles that I am fortunate enough to read and help translate.
I just felt touched to talk to you all today of a specific thing that I saw and that has caught my eye. I've applied it to my life and would love to share it with you all here. But to understand, I need to bring you all to the book of Matthew 6:5 - 15. For the eagle-eyed believers who remember every Bible-verse, you know exactly what's going on. For those of you who are like me, still learning, it's the prayer that we call the "Our Father".
To give you a brief understanding of what is going on, Jesus is being asked how to pray. In true godly fashion - something that is rebellious in today's culture - He starts by saying what not to do. Don't be hypocrites that cry out your random sentences for prayers, but be private in your faith by seeking God in your room, away from people while speaking from the heart. Then He gives us the Our Father.
But that's the part I want to focus on: He's our Father.
Jesus, in all of His infinite love and wonder, doesn’t tell us to call the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, the Alpha and the Omega anything other than “Father”. That means a lot. A good father gives their child their name and a legacy. They teach their child to be just and right; respectful to all and loving in strength. While we may not of all have had amazing father figures in our lives, we can all at least understand what a Father is supposed to do, and that’s a deep and innate feeling we all have.
By calling God “Father”, we are communicating a deep and personal connection that He wants with us. It’s why He tells us later on in the book of Matthew to call no other man Father: it’s so you keep that connection with God The Father as holy and sacred as possible (Matthew 23:9).
Those who follow Jesus in truth and in spirit are told to call God Father, for we are His children. I like to think of Jesus as being the ultimate older brother as He doesn’t just tell us what to do: he does it as well. As Jesus died for our sins, he called upon the Father, saying:
Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do [...] Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. (Luke 23:34, 46)
Remember how I told you that Jesus told this to His disciples and to His followers? They didn’t take His words lightly. They continued to preach the good news to all of the nations, proclaiming God as The Father. The Apostle John would say “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” (1 John 3:1). Even Paul, who never saw Jesus during His time on earth, would continue by saying in 1 Corinthians 8:6: “Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”
And now there is you. I’m going to encourage you to follow Christ in the way that you pray and address the God that loves you so much. Call Him the Father and continue to foster the personal relationship that you have with Him. I encourage you to make him more than just the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but make Him your Father and your one true God as well.
Sincerely yours, may the Father bless you,
Eli
Song: How Deep the Father’s Love for us,