Our Father in Heaven

Why would The God of the universe want us to call Him Father? Why not demand us to call Him God, LORD, Sovereign, or Most High? Don't misunderstand me. Those names are all appropriate and it is who He is, but Jesus told us to call Him Father when we pray to Him.

I think God smiles when we call Him Father. Father is a title of relationship. God wants a relationship with His creation, especially those created in His image. When we call to Him using the name Father He recognizes that He has been given a place in our hearts and our lives.

Children need their fathers from the very beginning of life. We are all conceived in love, God's love. And from that moment on we are part of Him. He is there to protect, provide, guide, and give good gifts (and so much more). He is also there to judge the path we decide for ourselves, if it is good or bad for us. He disciplines us out of love and receives us into His forgiving arms when we return to Him.

The name father gives us a sense of strength, power, and authority. Our Father in Heaven is superior to all in everything. So we speak the name Father knowing we belong to Him. We are His children. We can trust Him to never harm us, but to do good for us. (BTW if our earthly fathers are imperfect, which they are, it does not take away the perfect Father we have in God.)

Whatever we entitle God, He really loves and wants us all to call Him our Father. How do we come to the place of calling Him Father? Not every person is a child of God. Yes, they are all His creation, but it is through Jesus, God's only Son, that we can be called God's children and become joint heirs with Jesus. We must believe who Jesus is and what He has done on our behalf to be born again, adopted into God's family and call Him Father. God wants everyone to join the family.

Can you call Him Father? I do!