Until a year ago today, there was someone who loved me dearly and was always available for me: I called him Father!
He was my birth father. When I’m among men I’d proudly called him “Father”. He taught me the way of life, in that manner, I could best learned from him. His advises are always subtle.
Even when I called him from afar; where I now lived, I can still feel the warmth in his voice. It was that warmth voice, which brings comfort to since my childhood days. It brings a feeling a security in me. Even though we didn’t talk often, that special feeling of having a father was irreplaceable.
Attending church-organized conferences with my father, when I started to read and write, I would never forget those experiences. The discussions and analysis we had, of what we’d heard after such events, are something I have missed dearly.
My father’s Concord Reference Bible always came in handy. It was my first access of such books in understanding the gospel. In the countryside where learned preachers are in scarcity, it was more helpful. However, there are times when I still preferred the Holy Spirit filled but raw sermons till today.
There are times though, when I felt, my father’s wallet seems a bit far away. His Heavenly Father had provided for us; my father also had a father. And we need to ask few times, in other words pray, when we needed financial help. Nevertheless, food was always on the table in time, although our wallet might seem far.
As a young teenage boy, I wanted to get unleash from my father’s authority. But he took hold of me as much as he could yet I slipped away several times. Several rules are set for me to keep intact with him. Obedience, the best way to show our love, was never easy. Yet my father kept holding me back, even when I failed, because I am his son.
Above all, I am proud to have him as my father.
Abba Father:
Among the many Bible verses my father reads in our family prayer time, Galatians 4:1-7 was repeated over and over so that we might not miss out in future.
My father always emphasized on our “son-ship” or being an “heir”; the privilege of calling God, as our very own father:
“When the set time had fully come, God sent His son Jesus Christ. In short, Jesus Christ paid the price, on the Cross of Calvary, for our slavery; being us a slave under our sin. And those who received this adoption to son-ship become God’s child.”
Since we become God’s child, we are made an heir to His kingdom. In the Holy Spirit we called out to Him as “Abba Father”. The word Abba, in Aramaic, was a word used by children for their father. It is something like a “Daddy” or “Papa” today.
This word “Abba” richly expressed our relationship with God. That is why we considered God as our Father as well as our God. In other words, as much as He is our God, He allowed us to call Him Father so that we may have very close, a Father-son relationship with Him.
So, in the blood of Christ, even a worthless person was accepted as an heir. The worthless becomes worthy in His eyes. With full confidence, respect, and ownership we can now called Him Father.
My Father at Present:
More than I’d imagined I missed my father. There are many things I wanted to consult. Just simple queries he’d reply me aptly. By the way, being my father we followed each other. We kept updated of our situations whether at home or happenings around us.
Now with my father being gone, there is loneliness which cropped up every now and then. In my everyday life, there are times I wanted to ring him. Still, I have my Heavenly Father. But I cannot see Him. I cannot touch Him. I cannot hear Him speak like normal human beings.
I connected with my Heavenly Father through His words found in the Holy Bible, and in the form of prayers. It is a privilege to call Him FATHER whenever I talk to Him. However, there are certain answers I wanted, which He did not find it necessary for me at this moment.
There are times He seems so far away. Yet I know He’s with me always. It depends on how I give Him space inside my heart. When I called on Him, He’s nigh. He lets me know His abiding presence.
My Father for Eternity:
I have a Father who never ceases to exist. Heaven and earth may fade but He’ll be there. He is the Alpha and Omega; the Beginning and the End.
It’s a blessed assurance to have Him in my life. The assurance that I will no more perish but to be with Him, in eternity; bought to have that privilege through the blood of Christ.
Jesus Christ had declared, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2-3)
My God who was not ashamed of me calling Him as my Father. And His Grace is sufficient!
