The good news of Christmas is that with God it is never too late to receive the gift of your father’s blessing. Once received, opening it is as easy as one, two, three.
- Personally see God’s heart for you as a Father (Jeremiah 3:19).
- Openly accept his blessing and respond to him (Romans 8:15-16).
- Emotionally define yourself by His acceptance alone (Romans 8:37).
The reason Jesus Christ came that first Christmas was so that all of us could stop searching for love and acceptance and start living in our Father’s blessing and under His loving rule. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit modeled for us at Jesus’ baptist what every child and adult are created to receive from our earthly fathers initially and our Heavenly Father ultimately. We all crave a special moment, special name, special love and special blessing from our Creator. God offers that freely in Christ because he knows that a broken world filled with broken dads fail to give that to their sons and daughters. That’s why so many adult men and women stood up in front of a room full people. That’s why some of us spend the rest of our lives on a broken quest for significance and meaning.
God knows that in order to successfully navigate the emotional challenges, temptations and tests on our journey here on earth, we need the pervasive and securing love of a father as well as His promise that all will be OK in the end. If that is what God felt Jesus needed going forward, then that is what we all need going forward—no need to wait for Christmas morning to open that gift.
Heavenly Father,
In this moment, I recognize you want to be a loving Father to me. Forgive me for not seeing this sooner, seeking approval of people outside of your love, and not seeing your Father’s heart for me. I recognize that through Jesus I can become a child of God and live strongly as a child of God. I recognize that through his life, death on the cross and resurrection for me, I can share in his life and have you as my heavenly Father forever. Today, I open the gift of salvation, receive the gift of your acceptance and fully embrace the gift of your love through Jesus. I receive your name for me, your love for me, and your blessing upon me now and forever. Thank you for redeeming my identity and calling me yours.
Amen
