Family

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It’s a family thing.

“Father is the Christian name for God.” – J. I. Packer

We all have an idealized picture of what a good family should be like. It’s where we are loved, accepted, corrected, and encouraged. It is where we’re secure and confident. While every earthly family falls short of that, there is a spiritual family designed to meet every one of those desires. Let’s look –

On the cross Jesus paid the debt we owed for our sins and he offers us forgiveness. That is an astounding gift. But it doesn’t stop there. The cross was the first step in God’s ultimate goal for us – that we be adopted into the family of God. It’s not a perfect family yet, but this family does have a perfect Father and we are his kids.

J. I. Packer in his book Knowing God teaches that having God as our Father means that, much as a good earthly father, he has authority over us, he has affection for us, and he provides for us.

Unlike earthly fathers, he is all-wise and all-sufficient. He will never steer us wrong and he will never run out of resources with which to help us.

Having God as our Father also means that we can approach him without fear and we have the honor of carrying his name. We are children of the King – forever. That should make us all smile – and relax!

Whatever our circumstances today, we know we have a Father who loves us, who will never leave us, and who will provide for us from his endless resources. It’s good to be adopted into God’s family!

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” – Galatians 4:4-5

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Sorry!

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12

I learned a lot playing Sorry! with my daughter, 11-year-old grandson, and 13-year-old granddaughter recently. Have you ever played the game? You draw a card, do what it says, and try to get all four of your pieces from Start to Home before the other players do. Because of the Sorry! function, you can knock another player’s piece back to Start, so the lead in the game changes many times before it’s over. Here’s what I learned in playing this game:

Play to win. You have to be willing to make the choice that will best help you reach your goal. That works in life, too. We can get sidetracked with the peripheral things and lose our perspective. Stay focused!

Study the board before you decide your move. We want to make good decisions. Thinking about options is part of that process. If we don’t look at the ramifications of our choices, we could make ourselves vulnerable to attack and defeat.

There are setbacks for every player. The nature of the game means there are times when we get knocked back to start. It’s OK. We can pout or get mad or we can shrug our shoulders and cheerfully start over again. It’s our attitude that counts.

The people around the table are more important than the moves on the board. We laughed, we asked for mercy, we tried again, and we rooted for each other. In the end, all the pieces went back in the box, both winners and losers went on with life, and the fun was the part we remember the most.

“The workshop of character is everyday life. The uneventful or commonplace hour is where the battle is won or lost.” – Anonymous