No matter what stage of life we are in, we all idolize someone. The individual you idolize could be a sports figure, another otherwise famous person, or maybe even a family member. I idolized two different sports figures while growing up because they played the athletic positions I liked. These two individuals were Jim Kelly of the Buffalo Bills and Mike Piazza of the Los Angeles Dodgers/New York Mets. When I was playing football with friends I wanted to be a quarterback like Jim Kelly, and when I was playing baseball I wanted to be a catcher like Mike Piazza. For many of us, these names have been lost to history and forgotten.
As I have gotten older, I realize more and more the importance of who or what I idolize. Now that I am a father, passages in Scripture describing God as the perfect example and Father means so much more to me. The question I must answer in my own life is, who am I imitating as an earthly father? Who should my example be?
Psalms 103:13 - Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
There are so many more passages in Scripture describing how God is our perfect Father:
Matthew 7 - Our Father only gives us good gifts.
Hebrews 12 - Our Father chasens (corrects or disciplines) his children.
Luke 15 - Our Father forgives, even when we stray from Him.
When we understand these passages, and many others, we have a better understanding of who God is to us personally. No matter what your background is, we can see from Scripture that God has our best interest in mind. Those who come from a background where their earthly father does not demonstrate godly characteristics, understanding God as a perfect Father is hard to comprehend. However, a study of God’s Word clearly shows us the Father’s good intentions towards us.
If we want to have influence on those around us and point them to Christ then we need to focus our attention more on God as the perfect Father.
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