Who’s Your Daddy?

By Rey Diaz

As a child, I wanted my daddy to have the coolest job in the world.  When my friends asked me what my dad did- I would make up all sorts of stuff about him.  He was in the CIA, he was an Olympic champion, an astronaut, among many other interesting occupations.  But for some reason, my friends would always trump me with even cooler jobs their dad did.  One of my friends had Batman for a dad.  How do you top that? 

Now I can top that…because I know who my daddy really is.

For the last few weeks we have been challenging our church to grow in our understanding of God as our daddy. This isn’t something that happens overnight.  But our prayer is that as you continue following Jesus, you will see God as a loving, gracious, forgiving, accepting, and inspiring daddy.  He is always with you. He was rejected so that you could be accepted.  And he is your biggest fan. 

I think one of the most crucial steps we can take in our growth is to come to a clearer understanding of who God is.  It is easy to be just as confused about who God is id you have grown up in the church as you are new to your faith.  Jesus once asked his followers: “Who do people say that I am?”  That’s an important question to answer- but not as important as the follow up question – “Who do you say that I am?” 

How do we continue to grow in our understanding of God?  Paul made this his mission, saying “I want to know Christ…”  Paul was adamant about pressing on in his knowledge of God.  I want us as a church to do the same.  Whether this means memorizing more verses like Isaiah 41:10, plugging into a small group to be surrounded by people who constantly remind us about who God is, or simply committing to come to church on a weekly basis so that we keep hearing this message, I hope we decide to do something to help us to better understand God. 

Where are you at in this journey?  Do you see God as father who demands obedience or a father who lovingly provides us with an identity?  Do you see God as kind or fierce?  Forgiving or judging?  How can you grow in your understanding of God?

"Father, may your name be kept holy.
    May your Kingdom come soon.
Give us each day the food we need,
and forgive us our sins,
    as we forgive those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation."

Luke 11:2-4