Thursday, December 27, 2007

I Want My Daddy

It all started with an unfinished dinner. "What's wrong? don't you like hot dogs anymore?" I asked Machaela, my eight-year old girl. She shook her head know and said she was tired. She wanted to go upstairs to bed. So off she went.


This would have been no big deal regularly, but tonight was special. Machaela and her younger sister and brother were spending the night at their Grandma's house, who they don't get to see very often since we moved nearly 1200 miles away to Florida. Tonight was a special night!


I went upstairs a while later to say goodbye to the girls (the younger, Gabbie, was already out like light!). I nudged Machaela and asked her what was wrong. She was awake and crying. "What is wrong?" I asked. It turns out that she was sad that I was leaving her. She did not want me to leave her there. "I want to be with you!" she sobbed. Well, soon Grandma came upstairs and helped her feel better with the promise of movies and popcorn.


As her daddy, I can't tell you how much I wanted to scoop her up and love on her. It always breaks my heart when my children are sad. But, what really spoke to me tonight was my little girl's desire to be with me, her daddy. It served to remind me of what we children of God need to remember-we too have a Father in Heaven, and it should be in each of our blood-bought hearts to desire him above all.


I am reminded of what our Lord Jesus not only commanded us to do, but also modeled for us. Several times in the Gospels we read something like this that Luke wrote: "And Jesus resorted to a quiet place to pray." Jesus knew who his Father was. And he longed to be with him. He enjoyed an eternal fellowship with his Father. In fact, in his prayer to his Father in John 17, Jesus spoke of the glory that he had in eternity with his father, and his desire to be glorified with that glory again. Jesus had a burning desire to be with his father.

How true this is of us? Jesus knew his mission, but he still remembered that this world was not his home. He was here to fulfill his Father's will, and return to him. And in that special prayer of John 17, he made clear that were in the same boat. "They are not of this world, even as I am not of this world". Speaking of myself, the cares of life, the worries, the money, the immediate needs all have a way of taking my mind off of Heaven. They can make me forget that I am only a pilgrim passing through, and not a permanent resident of the world.

The fact is, we are currently not in our Father's presence in Heaven. But that doesn't mean that we can't have fellowship with him. The Bible is clear that we are to spend time with the Lord. We need his presence with us as much as any person we read of in the Bible. It is in his presence that we find his peace, his joy, his overflowing goodness and blessing. In fact, Psalm 16:11 says that in his presence is fullness of joy, at his right hand are pleasures forevermore. The Lord even told us that he has a table spread out for us, right in front of our enemies!

I am sure you've heard the saying "so heavenly minded, no earthly good". If not, it simply means that if we focus too much on Heaven and eternity with our heads in the clouds, we will be of no use in advancing the Gospel here on earth. But, I think it is equally dangerous to take our sight off of our eternal hope of being in God's presence. After all, Jesus died so that we might be saved, and spend all of eternity with him. A proper view of Heaven and everlasting worship of God should make us more earthly good as we save as many as possible.

So, where is your desire tonight? Are you longing to be with your Daddy in Heaven? I know that he is definitely longing to usher you into his presence. Hey, I know how much I wanted to pick my little girl up and take her back with me. How much more does our Heavenly Father long to take us home to be with him?

God bless!