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Abba, Father

Truly I say to you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 18:3    A young man was visiting Israel for the first time. He didn’t understand Hebrew and he was having a difficult time trying to communicate. Then all of a sudden he heard the only Hebrew word he understood. “Abba! Abba!” He turned and saw a little child run into his father’s arms. The father reached down and scooped the child up into his embrace as the child threw his arms around his daddy’s neck crying, “Abba!”     The young man recognized the word from Jesus’ prayer in the garden at Gethsemane. “Abba, Father!” Mark 14:36. Abba means “Daddy.” At that point the young man finally realized what our faith in God is all about. God is our “Daddy” and we are His children in Christ. All the complicated theologies meant little in comparison to that higher Truth revealed in a child’s call to his father.       I met a woman who told me about a dream she’d had after one of her children died. She dreamed she was following the child into Heaven. There was a little stream up ahead that the toddler was able to step over easily. He continued walking toward Jesus, but when the mother arrived, the stream had widened into a river she could not cross. Then Jesus said to her, “Tell My people I’m coming soon and they’re not ready.”       It was very easy for that humble, dependent child to come to Jesus; but what about us, filled with human pride and arrogance; are we ready for the Lord’s coming? Are we willing to come to God as little children, totally abandoning ourselves to Him, not caring a bit about what we are leaving behind? Are we the dependent, trusting children we need to be? I learned a long time ago that the blessed dwell in simplicity, just like little children. Copyright 2010 by H. D. Shively Devotionals | Cafe Logos Homepage