Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance.
(Ruth E. Renkel)

By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact. But I am prouder — infinitely prouder — to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys. The one has the potentiality of death; the other embodies creation and life. And while the hordes of death are mighty, the battalions of life are mightier still. It is my hope that my son, when I am gone, will remember me not from the battle field but in the home repeating with him our simple daily prayer, “Our Father Who Art in Heaven”.
(Macarthur, Douglas 1880-1964 American Army General in WW II)

In 1960, 7 million children were living without their fathers. Today the number has soared to 24 million, according to the National Fatherhood Initiative. Nearly two-fifths of all kids live in homes without their father. Of those children, more than half have never been in their father’s home, and 40% have not seen them in at least a year. Never in the history of the world has there ever been such an abandonment of children by their fathers! (What is the Impact of Children Without a Father? 14 March, 2008)

Samuel Osherson, (psychotherapist of the faculty of Harvard Medical School) says in Finding Our Fathers (2001), “We have been sitting on a psychological time bomb within the younger generation of men and women now coming of age… I believe that the psychological or physical absence of fathers from their families is one of the greatest underestimated tragedies of our times.”

So a world without a father is really a world where people long for that which true fatherhood brings: forgiveness, acceptance, love, security, fulfillment, purpose.

We all hunger after a father to love us without reservation—a father who loves us in spite of our weaknesses, failings, foibles; a father that allows us the freedom to make mistakes. Most of us would have settled for a father, period… and that lack of a father left a wide gaping hole in our hearts. Mostly we yearn for a father who was actually interested in us, someone we could go to when we needed to talk, or for words of encouragement, or just a hug. Most children would sacrifice their right arm for such a privilege. No matter how old we are we never grow out of the need for a father. And for the many who never had a physical father nearby, they have a hard time relating to or understanding just how much our heavenly Father loves us. Our image of God is often based on our bad experiences with earthly fathers or authority figures. But our spiritual Father never lets us down. He fulfills our every need. God lovingly made us in his image. He lets us know in his Word how much we mean to him. Read God’s great love for his people Israel. (Ezekiel 16:3-14, 60-62) He gave his only son to save our lives. He knows when we sit down and when we get up…he knows our thoughts and how many hairs on our head.

I ran away from home at a young age, and when I found myself in trouble I prayed to God to look after me. I needed a father and God always answered, always took care of me; always had mercy and compassion.

We can learn a lot about the Father’s love for us in the parable about the prodigal son. (Luke 15:11-32). He is everything we need. He loves us enough to give us freedom to try our wings, to search for our dreams, the freedom to make mistakes and to learn from them. The prodigal son wanted his freedom and the father allowed him to go and learn for himself. He is not forced to follow his father’s rules. But that doesn’t mean the father quit thinking of his son. Remember when your daughter went on her first date. How your heart was in your mouth and your prayers and thoughts were focused on her that night. You slept with one eye and two ears open. You were ready to pick up any of the pieces if need be. It was an active love, like the father’s in the parable. Many children only learn the hard way. God in his wisdom made his sons formed from clay and the wonderful advantage of clay is that you can wipe out any mistakes and start again.

The parable also demonstrates God’s love for the child returning to the fold. We can be much like one or the other of the sons: either a sinner rebelling against God the Father or the self-righteous unforgiving son who denies he has any sin. But the point of the story is the Father’s depth of love for his children (us). The younger son recklessly spends all his inheritance in fast living until he is all used up. He ends up eating what the pigs leave. It’s about that time we become disgusted at what we are and realize there is no other way but to turn back to the father. Not until the boy is confronted with such failure and despair, does he return home, repentant and willing to do anything to win back his father’s favor.

And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost

(Matthew 18:13,14).

To his surprise, and the surprise of others, the younger son is welcomed, without question, into his father’s loving and forgiving arms and kissed in all his stinking, haggard, shattered wretchedness. In the Darby translation Luke 15:20 it says “covered him with kisses”. There is a picture here that is very rich. The father displays his emotion; he is transparent, showing his feelings toward us, forgiving without hesitation, no lecture or bawling out. The son’s clothes stink from the swine, but the father clothes him immediately in robes of righteousness and prepares a feast. This is not some harsh condemning father. “The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). This father’s chief concern is not justice but mercy. The father communicates unconditional love to both his sons so that they in turn may show mercy to each other.

No amount of time, no amount of money, and no amount of rebellion could get in the way of the father’s patience and unconditional love for his son. Can you imagine the look on the father’s face when he sees his son returning…sheer delight! “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:24). He loves us so much that He is quick to forgive us. Psalm 34:17, “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.”

Ephesians 1:4-8

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

There is coming a time when there will be no more fatherless children. We will have that loving relationship that we have yearned for with our heavenly Father forever. God speed that day.