“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
– Luke 11:13
What’s the best advice your father ever gave you?
That’s the question Real Simple magazine posed to its readers several years ago. Here are a few of the savvy answers the publication received:
- If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.
- Never try to solve problems at night. They always seem worse than they do in the morning.
- You don’t have to answer the phone just because it rings.
- Life is better when you have a good time … and bring someone along for the ride.
A father's words can have a profound impact (good or bad) on his home and children. And everything he says and does — and how he lives out his life — makes an eternal difference to those around him. This was also true for Jesus. He called God (his own Father) Abba, which translates to Daddy. As Christ-followers, we, too, have the extraordinary privilege of knowing God as our loving Abba. So, it should come as no surprise that he has some important advice for his children: you and me.
One way we can get it is through the Bible — especially the book of Proverbs, which is full of thoughtful guidance from wise, God-centered people, who traveled their faith-journeys centuries before our time. And their words to us today are not only insightful, relevant, and trustworthy, they’re also inspired by our Creator.
It’s when we finally take God’s messages to heart that we begin a transformation into the men and women he wants us to be. Eventually, we mature enough in our faith that he shows us glimpses of his reality. And like an inquisitive child who’s finally learned a lesson or two the hard way, we begin to see through new eyes from our Father’s perspective.
Unfortunately, we tend to learn slowly. So, to help us understand, he had to reveal himself by literally putting a human face on the divine. God lived out the human experience without sin in the form of Jesus Christ — even if his creation didn’t recognize him at the time:
“Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?” Jesus once asked his inquisitive disciple. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
Jesus’ comments were a simple answer to humanity’s ultimate question. If we want to know the who-what-where and why of God, we first must know Christ — the One he’s already sent to us. Because the more we know and experience the Son, the more we’ll need to know and experience the Father.
That’s some good advice for every Believer to remember … and live out. After all, God is our Father. And he knows best.
