Have you ever seen the classic 1960’s movie “The Parent Trap?” It’s a fun movie about two preteen girls who meet at a camp and discover they are twins who were separated at birth. One girl grew up with the father, the other with the mother and they never knew the other parent. This happened because the girl’s parents divorced and agreed to each take one of the girls, they just never bothered to tell the girls that they had a twin out there. The girls hatch a plan to trick their parents by swapping identities, thus allowing them to meet the other parent that they had never known. The movie ends well with the parents eventually reconciling and the girls being united as sisters with a mom and dad. It’s a great movie but there is a truth in this that should be brought out.
Most people grow up with a father and mother, or perhaps just a mom or dad but we do not always consider the other father. Jesus told us about this other father when he taught his disciples to talk to this father. In fact the Lord’s prayer starts with the words “Our Father in Heaven.” This begs the question: If God is our father than who are we? What is our identity? The Apostle Paul addresses this issue. In Romans 8 there are several passages that tell us who we are: “Those who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God” and, “The spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” We are also referred to in the same chapter as heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.
When you stop and consider what that means, it means that as a son or daughter(child) of God, we have access to this “other father” the one that we don’t spend as much time with. In the parent trap, when the twin who had been fatherless moved out to her father’s house in California, she discovered that her father had a large nice house on acre’s of beautiful land with hills, mountains, and a lake. As nice as it all was, the real treasure was the quality time she spent with her Dad. In the same way, the real treasure is the opportunity to get to know this loving father who has been wanting us to come to his door. Unlike the father in the movie, this father has been waiting on you to reach out to him. He also wants you to take on a new identity. The identity of being his child. He has been waiting for you to do this since you were created.
When you realize who you were created to be and you start to spend more time with this other father, you start to see yourself differently. If you were one to think of yourself as insignificant, you start to become amazed as you learn to hear the voice of God and start to realize that the God who created the universe cares enough to speak to you and to share his secrets, thoughts, and feelings with you. If you are one who struggles with feeling loved, you will start to see the provision of God as he takes care of your financial needs and you realize he deeply cares for you. After all, would not a King take care of his heirs so they would not be begging for bread? There is more, so much more. This all starts with spending time with your father who loves you more than any father ever could. Father God. -Pastor Brian Mason
