Weekend Thought: The love of God the Father

‘That’s odd,’ the man answered. I drive a double-decker bus.’

The nurse then came to the second father, ‘Congratulations! You’re the father of triplets!’

‘That’s weird,’ answered the second man. ‘I work for a 3G phone company!’

The nurse then came to the third man, ‘Congratulations! You’re the father of quadruplets!’

‘That’s strange,’ he answered, ‘I work for the Four Seasons hotel!’

The last father in the room was groaning and banging his head against the wall. ‘What’s wrong?’ the others asked.

‘I work for 7 Up!’ he said.

One of the most fundamental attributes of God is the fact that he is Father. Again and again, the scriptures equate the terms ‘God’ and ‘Father’.

To some the image of God as Father is not a good one because of the experience of abusive earthly fathers. But our God is a loving God: that doesn’t mean some wishy- washy love where there is no discipline - indeed not. Just as a good father would discipline his children in the ways of right or wrong so God the Father exercises his discipline of love for us.

Some people emphasise the love of God without mentioning God’s judgement on those who sin and abuse the gifts God has given to them. There will be a judgement day when those who have rebelled against him will be taken to account. But thank God that he has provided in Jesus the means by which our sins are forgiven. That is a measure of his love.

His promise is that he will be with us to the very end of the age.