June is the month during which we set aside a day to honor our fathers. This year it will be on June 17, should any of you have forgotten. The Father whom we should most honor is our Heavenly Father. He is the one who loved us so much that He provided a way for us to become His own children and joint heirs with Christ Jesus our Savior.
When Jesus was teaching the disciples to pray, He said to begin this way: "Our Father in Heaven." (Matthew 6:9) In the same chapter, verse 31 and 32, He tells us not to worry about what we eat or drink or wear because: "your heavenly Father knows that you need them."
The Hebrew word of ‘Ab’, or Aramaic "Abba" means Daddy or Papa. This eventually came to mean ‘dear father’. A few years ago I heard a very strong Christian, a church leader, begin her prayer with "Dear Daddy". I felt very uncomfortable with this, totally against the way I had been brought up and feeling this was being disrespectful. Yet, in Scripture we are told that through faith we may each one of us call Him "Abba" which as we said in English is "daddy".
Three places in the New Testament, God the Father is referred to as "Abba". In Mark 14:36 when Jesus was pouring out His heart to the Father, sweating drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, His cry was to "Abba". The verse says "Abba, Father" or "Father, my Father". To put it even plainer as to the Hebrew and Aramaic interpretation, He was saying "Daddy, my very own daddy."
In Romans 8:14, 15 it is telling us that the believer is a ‘son’ (or daughter) of God, and we can cry ‘Abba, Father’. Then in Galatians 4:6 it says we have the Spirit of Jesus to confirm that we are sons and daughters, by crying out for us "Abba, Father".
How can we have such a close association with God that we can call Him Father, or Daddy? We become God’s children by placing our trust in Jesus Christ as Lord. God receives us into His family and our sins are forgiven. When our ‘Daddy’ looks at us, He sees us as a pure and forgiven child because of what Jesus did on Calvary.
I may never feel the freedom to actually talk to God as my "Daddy" (He will always be thought of as ‘Father’ or ‘Abba, Father’ by me), but I will never criticize anyone who feels this freedom to do so. Our God is a loving compassionate Father, and because of Jesus going to the Cross and paying the debt of sin, we who have put our trust in Him, Jesus, now have the freedom to enter the Throne Room of God and cry out to Him "Abba, Father".
Father, my Father, I thank You for the gift of becoming Your child. I thank You for being my refuge and providing all my needs. May I always glorify You and may others see me as Your child. I would like to hear "she has her Father’s eyes", and may my eyes be a reflection of your love and image. Amen
