Recently my
son and I had a “Coming together” meeting—literally. While I was tucking him into bed for the night and was bent over
pulling up the covers, Grady (facedown) rose up and his head met my nose. There was a loud pop and suddenly the room
was full of stars. I went to get some
ice, and Kristal finished with the kids.
As I sat there, something happened that was bigger than the hurt. Grady came in with a miserable look on his
face and, without saying anything wrapped his arms around me, full of remorse
about what happened. He needed me to
know that he was sorry, and more importantly needed to know that I did not
blame him. He needed forgiveness. With
his arms around me I had no care about my hurt nose—I wanted my child to know
that our relationship was OK.
"This is the
covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my
laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."
And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin
(Hebrews 10:16-18).
What an
awesome example of the kind of relationship God, our Father, wants with
us. Here’s what I know—God is a much
better Father than I could ever hope to be, and He set up the avenue that we
can have a like relationship with Him. I also know there are times when we are
going to fail, and we will need His forgiveness. God only asks that we return to Him. He then will wrap us in His
arms and let us know we are forgiven.
In fact, not only are we forgiven, but He takes it a step further by
remembering our sins no more.
Here is
what else I know. We need to have the
heart that my son had as he came to me.
Grady could not stand that anything was wrong with our relationship. He
wanted nothing to come between us. Our
hearts, too, need to burn with a desire to be with God—to know that there is
nothing that separates us from Him. Jesus, with his sacrifice on the cross, took
care of the path. The Holy Spirit takes care of the communication, our groans
from the heart (Romans 8:26). God takes care of the forgiveness. It is up to us to have the heart of the
child that will not rest until we are wrapped in God’s arms once more, right
with Him.
Wade