Abba...Father

                            All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters
                         you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children.
                                            With this Spirit, we cry, “Abba, Father.”
                                                        (Romans 8:14-16, CEB)

Die-hard fan, Steve Monforto, had been going to Phillies baseball games since he was three years old. After all that time, on September 7, 2009 he finally caught his first foul ball. After trading a couple quick knuckle bumps with other nearby fans, he handed the ball to his 3-year-old daughter, Emily. Big Mistake… Little Emily immediately threw the ball over the railing to the fans below.

Watching on a Jumbo-tron, the whole stadium gasped while Dad grabbed his head and yelled, “Oh no!” The people held their breath waiting to see how this father would react at the loss of his treasure. Quick as a flash he scooped his little daughter in his arms and gave her a loving hug for the entire world to see. The crowd cheered. Looking back at the moment, Steve said, “I wanted her to know that her daddy loved her and that she didn’t do anything wrong.”

Daddy… When Jesus was asked by the disciples how they should pray, he taught his followers to pray, “Our Father.” In the original Aramaic language that Jesus spoke with his disciples, the word he used was “Abba.”  This is a title for God found nowhere else in Jewish literature. “Abba” is more intimate than the English word “father.” It was the way a young child would address an earthly father. In English, we would literally translate the word as “Daddy.”

Little Emily is her “Daddy’s girl.” Monforto’s love for his daughter is touching and inspiring. It’s a good way for us to visualize our own Heavenly Father. He isn’t in the business of chiding and punishing. His concern is to reassure his daughters and sons that each of us is deeply loved. In Christ’s name, we dare to come before the Lord God in prayer and call him “Daddy.” On Father’s Day, we honor our earthly fathers; but we also recognize that at their very best, fathers give us a glimpse of our heavenly Father’s love for us. May our earthly fathers keep giving us such glimpses…

Prayer: Abba, bless all the fathers. Guide them to be godly role models and loving to all their children. Give them grace and patience to handle situations in a loving way, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

In His Word,
Reverend Dee Dee