A Father's Joy

Proverbs 15:20a: "A wise son brings joy to his father."


This past week has been quite a joy for me, for my eldest son, Jonathan, surrendered his life to Christ as Lord. Jonathan had been asking his mother and me questions about what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; but after attending our church's annual Vacation Bible School, Jonathan was ready to made a commitment to the Lord.


While we sat in our den at our home, I asked Jonathan if he would like to kneel before the Lord, who is seated in majesty on His glorious throne, and surrender to Jesus as His King. Jonathan agreed and so he, Tricia, Alex (a friend of Jonathan), and I went to our knees so that we all might praise the Lord and hear the wonderful words of contrition, confession, and surrender from our son. It was a most wonderful and emotional time. To hear the words of this young boy . . . words expressing thanks to the Lord for His love made manifest through His death and resurrection, reminded me of the preciousness of the grace of God that He has lavished upon us (Ephesians 1:8). Also, to hear this young man give His life over to His Lord and Savior, in order that He might reign over him and direct his path, not only swelled my heart with pride for my son but quickened my determination not to forget that I too am yielded to the Lord. He is the sole Authority to whom I submit and faithfully obey in all things.


Immediately after our prayers, that were filled with tears and hugs, Jonathan wanted to open the Scriptures and read from God's Word. He opened the Bible to Psalm 14:1-3 and began reading. I don't believe that Jonathan knew to which passage he was going; he just opened the Bible and started reading. Ironically (or might I say, "Providentially") the passage read is part of a discourse by the Lord on Salvation. The LORD exclaims in Psalm 11:4-7 that He is holy, seated upon His throne, and he observes the ways of man. The LORD tells us that He loves upright men (who will see His face) but the wicked He will judge. God further explains that only the blameless, righteous ones will be given the privilege of dwelling in His eternal sanctuary (Psalm 15:1-5). But then in Psalm 14:3, we find that all men "have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one." This puts all of us in jeopardy, for none of us can present ourselves as blameless before the throne of God; therefore, we must seek the mercy of God to avoid our eternal demise. This is why the Holy One (Jesus Christ) came to the earth to make the solely sufficient payment for our sins, and God "would not let him see decay" (Psalm 16:4) by raising Him from the dead, thus proving His power over sin and death. The Psalmist in response celebrated, for the Lord has "made known the path of life (and will) fill us with His presence and eternal pleasures at His right hand" (Psalm 16:11). Our response to His offering of grace should be to "trust in His unfailing love (and by faith) rejoice in His salvation. It is a time of singing to the LORD, for He has been good to us" (Psalm 13:5-6).

It was as if in the reading of the Word, Jonathan was reiterating to our family that God's grace truly is undeserved and a gift to us. It's amazing how these little reminders through life reinforce to us how blessed we are to have a loving LORD who believed that eternal fellowship with us was worth His grueling sacrificial death on a cross. Oh, how God's grace is so AMAZING!

The next morning, Jonathan rose before the rest of the family to read his Bible. How my heart melted when he told me that morning that he had opened the Bible and started reading through Haggai. For an 8-yr-old boy to be motivated to read His Bible early in the morning was profound in and of itself; and for him to read an Old Testament book that is seldom referenced made it even more incredible. As Jonathan and I went to a local bagel shop to have breakfast, we talked about the reason for the book of Haggai, namely that the people of Judah had returned from captivity in Babylon and needed reminding not to forsake their exclusive worship of the LORD. Upon their return to the Promised Land, these Israelites quickly started rebuilding the temple of the LORD; but they soon became discouraged by the lack of impressiveness of the temple compared to the grandeur of Solomon's temple from years past, and they were further frustrated by their enemies who did not want to see the temple restored as a place of worship. After 16 years had passed with little progress on the temple, the people lost their focus upon the LORD and had become more consumed with building their own homes. For this reason, the LORD sent the prophet Haggai to address the people's priority problem. They had reconstituted "self" over the will of God as first in their lives. God in turn withheld His blessings for the returned exiles, because they were indifferent to Him as the central focus of their lives. God was ready to shower blessing for His people if only they would give Him first priority.

As my family continues to celebrate this "re-birth" of our son, we also are reminded of the importance of placing God first in our lives. We should do this because God is worthy of such positioning and because He has given us the blessing of His grace (something that none of us deserve). So too we are mindful that the LORD's blessings will pour forth upon us when we are not distracted by the feigned substitutes that would distract us from our sole allegiance to God as Master and Savior. Let us forsake any idols that would attempt to take first place in our lives; rather, let us recommit ourselves to the King of Kings and worship Him fervently and exclusively.