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TAKING CUES FROM OUR FATHER
I’d give them the shirt off my back.
That’s a very old saying. It means you care about someone so much that you’d go to great lengths to protect and comfort them.
How many people do we care so much for? Our friends, certainly. But even more so, our loved ones – especially our children.
You’d do anything for them. Sometimes, when they’re hurt, embarrassed, sick, or depressed, you’d like to take on their pain for them – but you can’t. It’s part of growing up. You can only help them cope with how they feel, help them understand how it fits into their life. You prepare them for that day when they take on the world by themselves. You are, in a sense, clothing them, dressing them emotionally for the world.
And that’s what a loving parent does. You don’t turn your children out unprepared; you give them what you can. Even the shirt off your back.
That’s what God did for his original children, Adam and Eve. When they disobeyed him and ate of the fruit in the Garden of Eden, he sent them out of the garden. But he clothed them first, so they were protected from the elements. And he left things to eat, water to drink and items to use for shelter.
Does God expect any less of us when we deal with our children? With each other? Like other children, we can take our cues from our Father. We must always reach out to others and help them whenever possible. Even if it’s giving them the shirts off our backs.
Dear Lord, remind us to care for each other, as you have cared for everyone from Adam and Eve to the people of today. Help us to reach out and provide not only for our children, but for your children as well. Amen.
Ken Hobart |
