Just Like My Daddy

My ten-year-old daughter, Olivia, is crazy about her daddy. She writes notes to him and draws pictures for him. When he is away at work, she cannot wait to see him and when he is home, she is practically in his back pocket, following him around like a sheep follows a shepherd.

As Christians, we have a Heavenly Father who we are to look to as Olivia does her dad. What emptiness and lack of fulfillment we experience when we do not seek Him in prayer and in His word, but instead seek satisfaction in the temporal things of this world!

As my daughter hangs on every word her daddy speaks, we hang on to the promises of our Faithful Father. His words are life and peace.

Olivia knows her dad intimately. I observe her as she studies him at the dinner table and on the basketball court. She copies him in her conversation and as she practices lay-ups.

As children of the Most High, let us purpose to know the nature and attributes of our Perfect Father, following the example that He gave us in Christ. We walk in love as He did. We are patient with others as He is with us. We pray for others as Christ intercedes to the Father on our behalf.

These things and others cannot be accomplished in our own strength. God the Father has given us the Holy Spirit as a helper. We must be Spirit led in our thoughts, words, and actions if we truly want to follow and be like our Good Shepherd.

Yes, Olivia wants to be like her daddy, but as her father is being conformed into the image of Christ, he is pointing her to take part in that same radical transformation.