The Good Father

Yesterday was StoryADay Saturday, but I saved my post for Father's Day. So, without further ado...

The Good Father

Once upon a time, there was a father who had a son. His son was good and his son was kind. His son was as generous and loving as his father. Of course, they weren't the only father and son. There was another father, an evil father, and he had many, many children. His children were as selfish and reprobate as he was. This father was cruel and a liar. This father would deceive his own children just to get what he wanted, which was pretty much anything he could get his hands on. This father would lure his children into thinking they were good enough just the way they were, so they wouldn't go looking for anything outside of the life they already knew. This father would teach his children to hate people who were different and fear doing what was right. This father had no inheritance to give his children; all he could promise were moments of what seemed like pleasure or success. When those moments were over, the children were left with nothing: emptiness, hopelessness, even death. He had so many children, and the good father's heart broke for them.

One day, the good father, said to his son, "It is time." He had a plan all along. He would send his son to take the place of the other children. Any of those children who would be willing to be sons and daughters of the good father would be made eligible by the substitution. The good father would give up his son for the sake of the others he longed to adopt. He would love them and treat them as if they had been his children all along. There would be no remembrance of their former loyalty; there would be no punishment for the evil that they, like their father had done; they would be given a new identity and the good father's inheritance. But the son had to be willing. And he was. "He was as generous and loving as his father." He would do whatever it took to give the others an opportunity to know his good father.

Now, I'm going to stop my story right here, because I think you know. The son went to the evil father. Willingly. Some children responded to that act by calling the good father "Abba," and loving him with all their hearts. Some children did not. Have you ever known a good man who steps in to care for his wife's children and is rejected? Have you ever known a couple who longs to help a child through adoption or foster care, and the father's authority is continuously disrespected? It's not the father who is wrong, but the child who can't see past themselves enough to see what a good father he truly is. 

God is a good Father. And because of who He is, His Son willingly gave His all to make you His Father's child. *Surprise ending* God did not leave His Son in the clutches of the evil father. And He won't leave you there either.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!