by Diego D.
A child can be born to most men on this planet. However, not all men who have children are fathers. A father must always love, discipline and protect his children.
A father always loves his children. In the good and bad times, during those mountain top experiences and even during times of great disappointments.
A father must be ready to discipline children. With wisdom, encouragement and grace they must do this. During most times, discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but by doing this, he will soon see the fruits of his work. A child that does not receive discipline brings hardship and pain to their family.
A father must protect his children, he must protect what was entrusted to his care, doing the right thing at the right time, putting himself on the line whenever needed. Protecting his children sometimes involves assuming the hurt, knowing their needs, and in some cases, even dying in their places. A father is always ready to jump in front of a bullet for his children. This statement leads me to the story of a father who had an unmeasurable amount of love for all of his kids. He was committed to do anything for them. Day and night he rejoiced to see his children learn, grow and prosper. From the first day of kindergarten, to their college graduation, he was there for them, he was committed to love and protect them everyday of their lives. He had great plans for them, plans to prosper them, to give them hope and a future.
One day, one of his children disappointed him greatly. Because of his many mistakes and bad choices, the man's youngest child was now face to face with death. After a series of events, he was held by criminals requiring ransom money in order to preserve his life. His father knew they would never be able to come up with the money required in exchange for his child's freedom by the end of that day. Acting out of love, feeling the urge to protect his child right away, without taking any chances, this father negotiated a deal to place himself into the enemies hand in exchange for his son's freedom. As the ordeal unfolded, the hostage exchange was successful, and the young man's life was redeemed. Sadly, even under the supervision of the authorities and the careful planing to resolve the situation at hand, the brave father was murdered. As for his son, he was given a new beginning, a new chance to start again; all of this, at the cost of his father's life.
In the end, the father's love preserved his child's life, dad paid the ultimate price for his son's mistakes. Ultimately, what came to represent a tremendously sad day for that family and all who came to learn about this bittersweet act of love, also became a great lesson of altruism. For many years, the story continued to be told by many generations inside of that family, and by those who came to learn about it. Eventually, this story faded away and it became some sort of a tale inside that family's legacy. Although some people may have forgotten, it does not change the fact that this one act of unconditional love gave life to one young man and to those he came to father.
Having a child is not very hard.
A child can be born to most men on this planet.
However, a Father is ready to lay down his own life for his children.
Bottom Line
In a much similar but bigger and greater way than this little fiction I have put together, Jesus laid down His life for us and paid the ultimate price for our sins. He willingly died for us, laying down His life as our ransom. He did this to pay for our souls and deliver us from where we were once heading. He gives us the choice, the opportunity of eternal life in Heaven! "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23 Can you truly say you know all about what this man did for you? What do you know about Him? Not making a decision for Jesus is making a decison about Jesus. Don't let your opinion about "Religion" keep you from having a relationship with God. Do not let your decision about Jesus be impacted by your lack of knowledge about Him. Do not let your false concepts, lifestyle and influences keep you from knowing him at a personal level. In Thessalonians Chapter 5, verse 21 the Bible tells us - "Test all things; hold fast what is good."
Know for yourself what a great Father He is an the amazing love He has to offer.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
But I am a "Good Person"!?
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
Good person or bad person, all must be saved.
"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:13
Is He your Father?
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." John 1:12
"All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God." John 4:15
Thoughts…
After recently talking to a few people on the streets, I found out that many believe in God, but still they do not seem to be interested in learning about Him. They are either too busy with life, or they just don't care. It is amazing that a person is willing to gamble their eternity because they do not "care" or "don't believe" in something that they have this whole opinion about and yet they haven't even tested it for themselves. Faith and love for God is something that has been sadly overtaken buy the temporary pleasures of this world. As one of my friends at church recently said, "The world is ripping us off." Yes, sinning feels good and it may be fun, it brings joy and pleasure - temporary, joy and pleasure.
Too many ruin their lives because they are slaves to sin, slaves to things that control them. Depression, loneliness and emptiness, these are all side effects of self sufficient living. Yet, somehow this so called "book of rules", inspired and approved by God, can supernaturally set us free from all these things. The Bible is not a book of rules but a book of freedom. By the power of the the Gospel, we are no longer slaves to things that once controlled our lives, our behavior changes, our lifestyle changes. We are no longer prisoners to sin, we are set free! Have you ever seen a prisoner after serving his/her sentence running around on their orange jump suit? When we are truly in love with God, we want to jump out of our prisoner clothes and tell the whole world about Him! We christians are often looked at as fanatics, but it is very interesting to me how when we see people crying on TV over their "fanatic" love for some celebrity, the action seems to be more normal than seeing someone in love with The Creator of the universe.
Final words...
Do not conform to your time in this world, which is ripping you off from the gift of God. A world that is lost and full of false and temporary riches. Invest your time, faith and energy in something that is real and will last you an eternity. Be transformed by the living God who waits patiently for you to turn to Him, all because He loves you. Or you can just say it's all made up and reject the gift of God and ignore the one who has died for you. After all, we all have free will. But if you do believe in God, It's time to get serious about what you believe in, because person cannot just "believe" in God. The devil believes in God, does that save him? You're either in or you're out, there is no half truths. You're either hot or you're cold, there is no lukewarm. We are imperfect, defective people who need Jesus, the son of God. Only he can make us perfect in His eyes. One thing is for sure, we will all die one day and be face to face with our Maker, The Judge, The King of Kings, our Creator. It is time to restore our relationship with our Father! Remember, a Father is ready to lay down his own life for his children, have you accepted his offer? Please take this moment to and reflect upon all you have read.
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Mark 12:30
God Bless,
Diego <><
If after reading this post , you have committed your life to Jesus for the first time or have recommitted your life to Him, please e-mail us at hopewriters@gmail.com, we would love to hear from you and be encourage by your story.
