Game Changer Week 4: Devotional Day 6
DAY 6 – Saturday
Daily devotional
Read
Mark 9:2-8; Romans 8:14-17
Ask
“This is my beloved son. Listen to Him.” This is how Jesus’ father spoke over him. What is your experience of the words spoken over you by your earthly parents? How is your experience of earthly parents similar or different to how your Heavenly Father thinks of you?
Reflect
Though my father passed away when I was 11, I am incredibly grateful that among my fuzzy memories of him are many words of affirmation. I remember distinctly at family gatherings how he would brag to my cousins about my nascent intellect. When my older brother would beat on me, he would warn him that I would someday be larger than him and return the favor. That turned out to not be true on both counts, but nonetheless at the time I felt the measure of his words as true and it filled me up. These little moments weren’t planned, but I clearly heard and received them.
Now as a father in my own right, I’m awed (and terrified) by the power of my words and very cognizant of the lasting effects my words and behavior could have on Reed. It is an unfortunate reality of our world that I will inevitably leave my own imprint of brokenness on Reed. We all know this too well from our own fathers. However good of a dad we may have, they will inevitably show their limits. Though I cherish the gift of my father’s words, I’m wounded by his unfortunate early departure, and I have felt keenly his absence.
So it’s no surprise that the glimpse of the Father’s love for his Son we see on the mount may awaken some yearning in us. Perhaps we’ve never been called “beloved.” Perhaps we were at one point, but feel the absence of those words now. Perhaps “beloved” from our earthly father comes with strings or baggage. But the Father’s love for the Son comes with none of that. His love is pure, lasting, and perfect.
No wonder, then, that one of my favorite passages of Scripture is from Romans 8, which reveals to us that the pure love of the Father is now for us too. We are adopted into the family of God. Our cry of yearning, “Abba, Father!” is answered. We, too, are beloved, and nothing shall separate us from that love. Nothing.
As you pray today, consider letting your prayer be simply “Abba, Father.” What, if any, yearning does that awaken in you?