A Moment With Pastor Fred

I recently read an old story of how an emperor returned to Rome in triumph. He was marching his troops through the streets along with prisoners of war. The streets were lined with cheering crowds. Legionaries were stationed at the street’s edge to keep people in place. 

At one spot along the route was a platform where the empress and family were watching the parade. On that platform was the emperor’s youngest son. As the emperor’s chariot came near, the little fellow jumped off the platform, wriggled through the crowd and tried to dart in between the legs of a soldier standing guard. The soldier scooped up the lad in his arms. “You can’t do that son,” he said. “Don’t you know who that is in the chariot?  The boy said, “Yes, he may be your emperor, but that’s my father!”

O dear Christian friend, on this Father’s Day may we remember Almighty God is our heavenly Father. As Christians we should never recover from that truth. No Jew living under the old covenant would have called God Father directly. The Old Testament refers to God as being the Father of Israel, but Jesus introduced a radically new approach to God. He called Him Father. Because of Christ God is our Abba Father, our dearest Papa. 

Happy Father’s Day.