Those are MY kids!

I love my kids and it brings great joy to my heart to do whatever I am able to do to help and encourage them. Yes, I was and I am a tough Dad who doesn’t shrink from speaking truthfully.  I know that love is sometimes best expressed in discipline, but it also is full of mercy, quick to forgive.  My Heavenly Father feels the same way about His kids. Do you know that?   He delights in showing us love, in caring for us.  He will, as necessary, allow us to walk a rough path of discipline, too. 

When I call my children to account, they do not always show appreciation!  Years ago, when Bev and I grounded one of our daughters being openly defiant we heard these angry words from her:  “Right now, you two are not my favorite people!”  We laugh about that moment now realizing it was a natural reaction to unpleasant circumstances, part of the price that a loving parent pays for attempting to shape irresponsible teenagers into productive adults.  

 Let me ask you if you have ever hurled a similar charge at your Father in Heaven?

In the writing of the prophet Malachi, the actions of the Lord’s people are called into question.  “Why are you offering me inferior sacrifices?” God asks. “Why are you breaking faith with the wife of your youth? Why are you robbing Me by cheating on your tithes and offerings? Why do you pretend to be devout and ‘flood my altars with tears’ while doing whatever you want to do?”  When He called them to change their ways and explained the inevitable consequences of His discipline; they did not repent! Instead, they justified themselves, excused their perfidy, and angrily accused Him of being uncaring.  

As you read this excerpt from Malachi, note the counsel of the Lord and how applicable it remains for us. “You have said harsh things against me,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’ “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.’”  

With a failure of memory, the people responded to God’s challenge by telling Him it did no good to serve Him, that He never came through for the righteous.  If we’re honest, there are times when we may feel the same way. Though we might hesitate to say it out loud, we think – “What good does it do to serve the Lord?  Good guys finish last!” Such a point of view ignores reality. 

When we are angry with the Lord, like teenagers who are angry with parents for simply doing what loving parents must do,  there is an important lesson in this text. “Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.”  They stopped looking only at that moment and reviewed their history. The record they compiled revealed the goodness of the Lord.  As they worshipped, this promise was renewed. “They will be mine,” says the LORD Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” (Malachi 3:13-4:1, NIV)

God says, “those are MY kids, and everybody will know it by the way I take care of them!”

Christian, let’s love Him, even when we cannot see the ‘why’ of the present, the reason for the discipline, or the value of living a holy life. Own these words from the Revelation; the promise to all those who walk in fellowship with the Spirit. "Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. … They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:2-7, NIV)  We are His children, beloved treasures.

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How Deep The Father's Love For Us

How deep the Father's love for us,

How vast beyond all measure,

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure!

How great the pain of searing loss,

The Father turns His face away,

As wounds which mar the Chosen One

Bring many sons to glory.

Stuart Townend

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