Inheritance

As a father, this weeks readings from the Revised Common Lectionary really struck me - in particular, the passage from Ephesians.

The opening lines of Ephesians are a doxology - a hymn of praise and thanksgiving for the goodness of God's love. That love is made known to us through our adoption as sons and daughters of God. And that adoption is made possible only through the gift of a son. How odd that God should offer the loss of his own son so that he might adopt us all as members of the family.

As a father, I really don't think that I have that in me. In fact, I know I don't. My love for my own kids is too strong and the breadth of my love for others is too weak. I could not do what God the Father did - I could not send my own son away in the hope that I might gain other children. Perhaps that is one of the differences of divine and human love - God's love knows no limits - including the limits of lineage.

The story of inheritance does not end there. The text continues and reads that we have been "sealed by the Spirit as an assurance of our inheritance".

Over the years I have known many adopted persons and, for many, there has been a subtle fear - "what if one day they change their mind and no longer want me?" That kind of fear is a deep wound that damages trust and relationship and limits growth. And here we see again the goodness of God - the Father sends the spirit to literally mark us as his own. The original language, Greek, gives sense of an impression and it is rooted in the practice of stamping a wax seal with an official symbol like a ring. What we find in this passage is that when God adopts us as his own, his spirit impresses upon us the official image of God that we are his own. His word and his promise of adoption literally marks us as his own....forever.

My friends, that is a blessed assurance - to be sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as God's own forever. And that gift is ours if we will but only recieve the truth of God in Christ and place our full trust in him.

So, what is your hope? Who is your daddy? Through Christ, the answer to both can be "God"!

Amen.

Balance?

I write this first entry of this blog later in the afternoon. The day has been full. The morning started with a trip to Walmart to get a couple of tires repaired. After a long grocery run, I returned home to help my wife get lunch together and then the kids down for a much needed nap. As the family slept, I spent a few moments with a good book - a text focusing on reaching the unchurched, particularly young adults. After that, cleaning the house and the backyard and a running conversation with my wife about life in Lubbock. Now the kids are up and playing in the back with Kiah and I have a few moments to write.

For years now I have searched for balance in my life. The image has always been one of scales - equal weight applied to different aspects of life. And for years I have been disappointed. The reality has been that my life and the different parts of my life cannot be so easily divided. Somedays different parts of my life must take priority and some parts of my life take priority more than others. Balance is an illusion.

What I have learned, however, is that priorities in my life can reflect my loves. I don't always do it, but I can make my faith in Christ my first priority. I can think about God and keep the Trinity in my heart and in my prayer life. I can try to give my relationship with God top priority in my daily routine. And then comes marriage - I am doing better at this than in the past. Priority here means that whatever I am doing, I can put it on hold for the sake of Kiah and our life together. Sometimes that means husband/wife time, while other times it simply means turning my attention - whole attention - to what she needs or wants. Now the kids - the object of my fatherly affection - they are a constant source of struggle and frustration and joy and fulfillment. During the completion of this blog I have already been interrupted by their needs a dozen times. They are the opus dei - the work of God - in my life. They teach me so much about life, and about myself, that I cannot be the man that God means for me to be without them.

Jesus said that a person's treasure is where that person's heart is. Treasure, something precious, is time. There is only so much of it and we can't make more. Our time is our greatest treasure. My prayer is that I can focus that treasure where move love must be - on God, my wife, and my family. Amen. Got to run...the baby is crying.