Our Perfect Father

In Bible times, the father of the home was responsible to provide and care for his family. He was the source of life for the children and their protector as well as the main authority figure. He was expected to discipline (and forgive) when necessary and educate the children in both ordinary and spiritual matters. He was to be honored and any abuse toward him was considered shameful and punished severely.

When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He told them:

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. (Matthew 6:9)

In thinking about the role of fathers in those days compared to what happens in family life in our culture, this concept of God being Father can be confusing for some. Think of those whose fathers were abusive, or absent, or dead-beats. How difficult to relate to God as a loving, heavenly Father without having a loving earthly father.

My dad was none of the negatives. He may have been working more than many fathers, but he was there for us, being the father he should be with the addition of a wonderful sense of humor. There was a lot of laughter in our home. He was not a spiritual man until later in life, but mother and grandmother’s prayers filled in.

Millions of God’s children call Him Father. Had every Christian known the depth of what that means, His nature and care would never be doubted. Unfortunately, the other titles for God sometimes put connotations in our hearts and minds and bring misunderstanding and uncertainty.

For instance, God is also known as a king, judge, and lawgiver. Those words can confuse His children about what He is like. The devotional writer says, “It is inconceivable that a good father could forget or neglect or be unfair to his children. A savage or wicked father might, but a good father never! In calling our God by the blessed name of Father, we ought to know that if He is a father at all, He must be the very best of fathers, and His fatherhood must be the highest ideal of fatherhood we can conceive.”

As already said, God combines the best of both father and mother, which includes all  the love, tenderness, compassion, yearning, and self-sacrifice that we recognize to be at the heart of great parenting, even though it is not always seen in earthly parents.

PRAY: Jesus, You came to reveal God to us. I’m so thankful for the word ‘father’ and that You gave me a great example, yet realize that as wonderful as my own father was, he does not compare to the wonder of having a heavenly Father who is utterly perfect and who is always enough — meeting all my needs and loving me with such amazing patience and grace.