It was only three short years ago that my life was completely turned upside down. Most of the time when this happens it’s never a good thing. Having your world turned upside down usually involves some aspect of heartache and pain, but not this time. On January 6th, 2012 at 8:19 a.m. God blessed Miranda and me with a little baby boy. Little did I know that this small bundle of joy would be one of my greatest teachers; a teacher from whom I would learn some of life’s most important lessons more fully.
As a parent you are suppose to teach your children, to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). That was and still is my plan for Caden. However, in the three short years he has been a part of our lives, he has taught me much about some of life’s greatest lessons. He has taught me about love, patience, care, concern, affection, kindness, joy and a host of other things. But, perhaps the greatest lesson of all deals with God’s love.
I have always been told about how much God loves me. As a minister, I have spent a great amount of time telling others how much God loves them as well. However, until I had my own son, I don’t think I ever truly understood the depth of God’s love for me.
The apostle John wrote, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (I John 4:9-11).
God’s love for us as His children is unlike any kind of human love. I love my son with all my heart. And yet, as much as we love our children, it fails in comparison to the love God has for us as His children. His love for us propelled Him to offer His only son as a sacrifice for sin so we could have hope of salvation from the wages of our own sins. According to Paul, the wages of our sins is death (Rom. 6:23).
Friends, God loves YOU so much He was willing to offer up His only son to suffer humiliation, shame, torture and even death so you might be able to spend an eternity with Him. Jesus himself said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
God loves the whole world and every one living in therein. And yet, although His love is universal, His abounding love is very much personal towards each one of us. Augustine said, “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.”
The love of God is truly hard to comprehend. The closest I have come to comprehending God’s love for me is by examining the love I have for my one and only son. It is an amazing kind of love; a kind of love that would propel me to do anything for him and his well-being.
Yesterday my son Caden celebrated his 3rd birthday. I don’t know where the last three years have gone, but it has been the greatest three years of my life. I hope and pray God will bless our family with many more wonderful years together. With those years may God work through my son to teach me many more important lessons along the way, lessons I might otherwise never truly understand.
Happy 3rd birthday, Caden! Daddy loves you more than words can say.
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