Message
In , Jesus said, “I cannot give the children’s bread to dogs.” This means that a person is either God’s child or a dog. Children have fathers, while dogs have masters. Children can walk up to their fathers anytime to ask questions and make requests, but dogs cannot. While a child can sit with his or her father on the dining table to eat, a dog usually sits under the table to eat crumbs. Such dogs will go hungry if there are no crumbs. If you have not yet surrendered your heart to Jesus, you are not yet God’s child, and now is the best time to turn to Him and allow Him to become your Father.
God has numerous names; He is the King of kings and Lord of lords (), He is the Almighty (), and He is the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last (). Despite all His names, when Jesus taught us to pray in , He said that we should start by saying, “Our Father”. The name God loves to be called the most is Father. As Father, God is our source and sustainer; He is our helper. No responsible father will see his children suffering and leave them to continue to suffer.
When I was a child, I often followed my father to his farm. We always had to cross a particular river on our way back, and occasionally, the river overflowed its banks. Whenever this happened, it would sweep the bridge that was built across the river away. On one occasion that this happened, my father picked me up and carried me across the river on his shoulders because I was too small to walk on the riverbed and not be swept away by the currents. While he was walking through the river, I was playing with the water because I was on his shoulder. If an earthly father can do everything to protect his child, how much more our heavenly Father?
Beloved, if you are already a child of God and are experiencing challenges that are currently testing your faith, hold on to God; He is a loving Father, and He will surely see you through and bring you to an expected end (). If you are, however, yet to surrender your life to Him and you want to experience His special love and care, then accept His invitation to become His child today, and you too will enjoy peace on all sides, in Jesus’ name.