I preached a sermon at The Bridge recently where I repeatedly made the point that God is a generous Father who is eager to pour out blessings on His children. I began the sermon by referencing Matthew 7:9-11. In that passage, Jesus says that earthly fathers, who are inevitably “evil” to some extent or another, know how to give good gifts to their children, so how much more does God? The idea here being that whatever good and exemplary qualities we may see in earthly fathers are just a sign of the fullness of that quality in God, as our Heavenly Father. That hit me in a fresh way this week.
Ministry at The Bridge has been full and very life-giving. However, it’s been a while since I took vacation time, and even normal, day to day family time has felt constrained. That week, I found myself especially wanting to connect more with my son, Zachary. We had Vancouver Whitecaps tickets offered to us through the Children’s Heart Network, with two tickets remaining on Wednesday afternoon. I returned home from a meeting, ate a quick dinner, and asked Zachary if he wanted to go on a surprise adventure. He replied with a huge smile on his face, especially with the promise of being able to eat candy as part of this adventure. We drove to Lonsdale Quay, hopped on the sea bus, rode the Skytrain down to BC Place, grabbed an iced tea and a “First Match Certificate” and settled down. We stayed for the first half only, since his normal bedtime is 8pm and it was a school night. (A first half where the Whitecaps had one shot on goal, a mostly accidental shot from midfield. When your sport is basketball and points are scored every 30 seconds or so, watching soccer is…challenging.)
The boredom of the sport aside (my apologies, soccer people, I wish I didn’t experience it this way), it was so good. Zachary had so much fun, and I had so much fun being with him. As we drove home, already way past his bedtime and with his eyes growing a bit heavy, he exclaimed, “I’m so awake, I could do this whole day over again!” I am so thankful to God for the time I could spend with him that day, because it gave me incredible joy.
If an earthly father experiences deep joy when spending quality time with his child, how much more does our Heavenly Father? How much joy does it give Him when we go for a prayer walk, with no agenda other than to speak with Him? How much joy does it give Him when we sit in silence, allowing Him to move in our hearts? How much joy does it give Him when we spend time with Him in the Scriptures? How much joy does it give Him when we come together with other children of His and enjoy Him together?
May we know the character of our Heavenly Father, who loves spending time with us, and may we spend our time accordingly.
