God the Father

Billy was raised in an angry family. Mealtimes were either silent or sarcastically noisy. They often ended in arguments and tears. He usually got yelled at if he spilled any food or drink on the table, of if he didn’t finish his food, or if he slumped at the table—it seemed as though he couldn’t do anything right.
When Billy was about ten, he began excusing himself from the dinner table (as soon as he could without being yelled at) and walking down the street to a neighbor’s house.
          The old-fashioned house down the street had a big porch on the outside and a happy family inside. If Billy arrived there during dinnertime, he would crawl under the porch and sit there quietly, listening to the sounds of warmth and laughter.
          One day Billy was invited for dinner. He was so excited and so nervous that when he reached to receive some rolls from the person next to him, he accidentally spilled his milk. He would have shrunk into his napkin if he could. He waited for the expected verbal blow. Instead, the father stood up, and with a roar of delight cried, “get the boy some more milk and a dry shirt. I want him to enjoy this meal!”
          Billy’s experience showed him that not all fathers are angry and harsh. We often get our ideas of what God the Father is like through our experiences with our earthly fathers. But even the best earthly father cannot love us with a perfect love like our heavenly father can. We need to look at the scriptures to get an accurate picture of what God the Father is like. Let Him surprise you with his love in the pages of the Bible.
-Pastor Dino Griffin