Our Father in Heaven, Ps. 51, Ps. 103 & Luke 15

Yes, as fathers there have been some decisions we've made that have gone sideways or some choices we shouldn't have chosen. In light of that, we have paid the horizontal consequences for those decisions. As long as we own those decisions we shouldn't be wallowing in the cesspool of those decisions after the Lord has forgiven us. You are not the consequences of your bad decisions. Those do not define who you are. You can't allow those to rule or direct your life. 

Ps. 51:9-13; 17AMP

Hide Your face from my sins

And blot out all my iniquities. 

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a right and steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from Your presence

And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation

And sustain me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,

And sinners shall be converted and return to You.My [only] sacrifice [acceptable] to God is a broken spirit;

A broken and contrite heart [broken with sorrow for sin, thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.

Ps. 103:2-5; 8-10; 12-13AMP

Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul,

And do not forget any of His benefits;

Who forgives all your sins,

Who heals all your diseases;

Who redeems your life from the pit,

Who crowns you [lavishly] with lovingkindness and tender mercy;

Who satisfies your years with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the [soaring] eagle.

The Lord is merciful and gracious,

Slow to anger and abounding in compassion and lovingkindness.

He will not always strive with us,

Nor will He keep His anger forever.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins [as we deserve],

Nor rewarded us [with punishment] according to our wickedness.

As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Just as a father loves his children,

So the Lord loves those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence].

Let’s talk about five fathers: David, Vader, Father of the prodigal son, my father and myself. 

Fathers are to provide, protect and pursue.  And, they should be able to be patient while engaging in all three of those aspects. We have to be patient in being able to or finding ways to provide for our families.  We need to be patient when or in protecting our families.  There should be patience in planning how to protect our families. Finally, not only are we the pursuers of our spouses but if our children choose to wander we must exercise patience until they decide to return.  However, there may be times as the shepherd of our families we may need to pursue them to bring them back home.    

When thinking about Fathers I first think of David, King of Israel.    Five of his sons were with Bathsheba.   One of those is Solomon.  Can you imagine having to explain yourself to your children about the relationship between you and their mother?  As a Father, David had to be transparent with those sons if he were ever going to exemplify the words he wrote in Psalm 51 and Psalm 103. He would have to actually walk out those words he’d written.  His children would have to see those Psalms in action and deed, not just words written on paper.  

Anakin Skywalker.  Darth Vader.  What if Anakin had not become Darth Vader?  What kind of father would he have been then?  As Vader, he was a father who dealt only in absolutes, so there is no middle ground with Vader.  It’s either good or evil, left or right, black or white.  Which can be difficult for your children to understand whether they’re young or old.  Which is why Luke was able to resist his father’s temptations to come to the dark side because he couldn’t satisfy the notion of something being absolute.  He couldn’t come to terms with the idea of his father being gone for good.  Thus he was able to find the good still left deep inside of his father. The two things we know Vader got right were pursuing, and definitely patience. 

My father, I must admit, was good at all of them except the pursuing part.  However, I believe he tried after he gave his life to the Lord, in his own fashion.  The one thing I believe he was exceptional at was patience.  Now that I look back at all of my time that I had with my father, he was very patient with my brother and I.  I believe that patience is the foundation for the other three aspects.  So, he had a foundation, but had trouble executing the pursuing part, especially when it came to dealing with my brother.  Though when I look at our scriptures, I know my Dad had the forgiveness part down.  He definitely lived that even before he came to know Christ.  He was always a very forgiving person, he just became even more so after he got saved.  He always told us that we never had to apologize to him because he’d already forgiven us. And, that carried over into how I raised my children.  I’ve always told them the exact same thing.  The only difference between my dad and I is that I did finally get the pursuing part right.  It may have been late in my walk with Christ and late in my life; and late in their lives but it wasn’t too late.  In light of that our relationships have become better.  As fathers we may not always get it right the first time but as long as we get it right at some point it is never too late and our kids will still appreciate it.  

We are not the sum of the results of our bad decisions.  We are made whole and new through Him.  As far as the east is from the west He has removed those bad decisions and He doesn’t hold those against us just like we don’t hold them against our children.  He loves us just as we love our children but even more so.  As fathers it is our duty to make sure we don’t just remember to teach that to our children but to remember it for ourselves.  Our children knowing that God is a forgiving God provides and protects their hearts.  Teaching them that our Father in Heaven is patient with us provides them with the security of knowing that no matter how far they wander, if they ever wander, He will always be patient in not only pursuing them but also in waiting for them to come home.  

Which brings us to the Father in the story of the Prodigal Son.  Obviously the greatest father of all time, the goat, because in the story the father is God.  Jesus’ parable is the example of how great our Father’s love is for us.  He gave the son his inheritance early, let him leave home so he could go and spend it as he pleased.  This is an example of the massive amount of freewill that God has given us.  He loved his son so much that He let him go.  His son was free to do as he pleased, however, the consequences of doing that landed his son eventually in the pen with the pigs.  He had fallen so low that that was his standard of living:  existing with the pigs.  But the Father was patient.  Once the son realized what he’d done, he knew he’d screwed up and came running back home.  He knew he’d rather be a hired hand on his Father’s estate than to live with the pigs.  The most awesome thing about the story is that when the Father saw him coming towards Him, He didn’t wait for him to get near, the Father ran to him.  

Luke 15:20, So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

This is the example that our Lord has set for us as fathers.  The Father in the story of the Prodigal Son, provided, He protected, He was patient and He pursued.  He met his son halfway.  He saw him, had compassion on him, ran to him, hugged and kissed him.  The scripture says He ran to him.  

As fathers we may trip or fall a couple of times to reach our kids but that’s okay, as long as we continue to get up and pursue them because our Father in Heaven always pursues us. Sometimes we may miss provisions, but He always provides (Phil. 4:19).  We may not always be able to be there to protect but He never leaves nor forsakes (Heb. 13:5).  And, there are times when we aren’t so patient but the Lord is “abounding in compassion and lovingkindness” (Ps. 103:8).  Though we may fall short sometimes we and our children will always have someone who doesn’t.  We all have a Father who exists without being dependent on anyone or anything else.  So, there is only one absolute:  God, our Father.