When you pray, how do you address the One with whom
you speak? Do you say, "Dear God...'; do you call
Him, "Lord"? Or do you call Him "Father"?
In Jesus' prayer in John 17, Jesus says He has come
to make manifest God's Name. But wait, don't we
already know that Name -"God"; "Jehovah"; "Lord"??
Interestingly manifests Him as "Father". This is not
a proper name, but a relational name.
Think on that for a moment. People call my earthly
Dad many names. Those who know him only formally may
call him "Robert" or "Mr. McQuality". Others know
him at his job by "Mac" or more personally as "Bob".
But I get to call him "father/Dad'. It is because we
have been given a special relationship. I know my
Dad very well, and my Dad knows me and has invested
himself in me and led and taught me. I am a richer
person because I know him not just as "Mac" or "Bob"
- he is my father!
|
A lot of people speak generically of God, or feel
inclined to formally call Him "Lord". Others have a
more distant relationship and refer to Him as "the
Big Guy" or "the Man upstairs". Jesus has come not
only to bring you to the Father by the forgiveness
and mercy through His sacrifice on the cross, He has
also come to reveal Him as "Father". That you might
know Him now as such when you talk to Him and in how
He deals with you in this life, and that you might
forever know Him as One who loves you and and has
chosen you and calls you His son/daughter. And that
you might benefit from this close relationship not
just someday in Heaven, but even now.
Can you call Him 'Father'? Do you know Him in a
relational way?
[Pastor Dan McQuality
Grace Lutheran Church, Lincoln, IL] |
