Wednesday, November 24, 2010
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Scotty had been begging his dad to play hide-and-seek with him for a couple of hours. Finally, Dad finished what he was doing and jumped into the game. He said, "Scotty, you count to 50 while I hide somewhere in the house." It took the little guy a while to count to that big number, but he finally got there. He began right there in the living room, looking behind all the curtains and the big furniture. No daddy. He looked in the dining room, the bathroom, the closets, the kitchen. No daddy. Which meant his father was hiding upstairs. Scotty was disappointed after he looked in the guest bedroom, the bathroom, and the master bedroom upstairs. Still no daddy. He knew there was only one place left to look; that big, dark closet in the master bedroom. Apprehensively, he slowly opened the door to that long old closet with the light switch he couldn't reach. He looked to the right. No daddy. He looked to the left, RRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Suddenly, there was a big grizzly bear, growling and coming at him. He ran as fast as his little legs would go; out of the bedroom, down the stairs, all the way through the downstairs until he was stopped by the locked door of the kitchen. That's when the growling bear caught him, grabbed him in his paws and hugged him! This was no bear trying to hurt him. This was his Daddy wanting to hold him.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Afraid of God."
So many people have made the same mistake Scotty made...about God, that is. They think He's a bear who wants to hurt them. When, in fact, He's a Father who wants to hold them. It may be that some wrong ideas about what God's like have kept you from ever experiencing His awesome love. Like that little boy, you've been running from a Father who just wants to love you.
Maybe you've got what God is like confused with what your father was like. Jesus said when we talk to God to call Him "Father." But for you, that word may bring memories of someone who hurt you, who betrayed you, who wasn't there for you, who you were never good enough for. But God isn't like that father. He's the Father we all wished we had: fair, trustworthy, loving, approachable, able to fix things for you, always there for you. How do we know what He's like? That's where Jesus comes in. We know Jesus was all of those things, and He said, "Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9).
Or maybe your religious background has made you feel like God is a bear to run from. The God they told you about seemed full of anger and condemnation. This was a God to fear, not to get close to. Here's what God Himself says about what He's like in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 John 4, beginning with verse 18. "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear...This is how God showed His love among us...He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
That's the God you were made by. That's the God you were made for. A God who wants to love you, not hurt you; whose love drives out the fear. Whose love for you is so massive that He desperately did not want to lose you. So He gave His one and only Son to come here and die on a cross to remove the sin that made it impossible for you to get to Him or to go to heaven and be with Him forever. All of God's anger against human sin was taken by Jesus on the cross. But Jesus didn't stay dead. He blasted out of His grave and proved that He can deliver the eternal life He promised. You can tell how much God loves you by how much He spent on you. He spent His Son for you.
And today, this Father you were made for is pursuing you. That's the tug you feel in your heart. That's Him. You've lived long enough without this love. You don't have to live another day without Him. This can be the day that you reach out to Jesus and tell Him, "Jesus, I'm not running anymore. I want to welcome You into my life because only You can forgive my sins and give me the relationship I was made for. I'm Yours, Jesus."
One thing that could help you be sure you belong to Him might be the information that I've put on our website. It's helped a lot of other people at a time like this. Would you just visit us at yoursforlife.net, or I'll send you my booklet Yours For Life. You can call and ask for it toll-free at 877-741-1200.
You've run from Him long enough. This is your day to run to Him. He'll love you like you've never been loved. And He'll never let you go.