#8 Who Is God? | The Right Parent

“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.” They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God”… You are of your father the Devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” (John‬ ‭8:37-40, 44)

Journal Entry

“Jesus couldn’t get through to some Jews because they were so focused on doing what they had ‘seen’ with their father: the Devil. Although they were of Abraham’s seed (his children), their choices suggested otherwise. Jesus is highlighting that the apple never falls far from the tree: like father, like son/daughter. Do your actions suggest the Devil is your father?

Father, I want to do things which I have seen from You. Help me not to be oblivious to my state if I allow the Devil to be my father.”

Commentary

If you’re like me, you’ve probably heard many times over that faith is black and white. You’re either for God or against Him. This idea of ‘picking a side’ instead of lingering in an imaginary middle ground is helpful but impersonal. What if I said you weren’t picking a ‘side’, but you were choosing a ‘father’? For me, the idea of being the daughter of Satan sounds disturbing. There’s something rather perplexing about why one would choose to embrace a familial tie with their alleged worst enemy. But I do. With each wrong thought and action that I allow to persist, I demonstrate that my spiritual father is, in fact, the Devil. Truth is, the Devil doesn’t mind if you publicly acknowledge God as your father, if privately your actions say otherwise. The consequences of trying to live a double life are innumerable; there’s nothing to be gained by temporarily (or permanently) becoming a child of the Devil.

Not only is God the right father, but He’s proved himself as a parent. Jesus turned out alright, didn’t He? On a serious note, Jesus lived His earthly existence in the manner that He did solely because of His connection with His father.
For those wishing to contest that Jesus isn’t a fair comparison – I would refer you to this blog. Joseph and Mary alone couldn’t have enabled Him to live a sinless life. Many people have godly earthly parents, but still choose the Devil as a spiritual father. On the other hand, the opposite is also true. Therefore, it’s important to commit to having the right father irrespective of the right (or wrong) decisions of your earthly parents.

So…

The Jews didn’t realise they had the wrong father and you might not either. If being a child of Satan sounds abhorrent, then commit to becoming the child of the right Father – God – every day.