The Father's love

The Father loves me. And He loves to show me His grace.

On Sunday, I was working a birthday party and the most beautiful, bitter-sweet thing happened. We were all playing a game and one little boy accidentally got a bit too rough and hurt his little sister. When he realized what he had done, he immediately ran to his dad.

The dad said, "Son, you are not perfect. It is ok. You are going to mess up in life. Get back out there and finish the game."

But the son could not get over what he had done. 

The father forgave his son for hurting his daughter. The father did not linger on the fact or even bring it up beyond telling the son that he has been forgiven for it. But the little boy was so consumed by his feelings of guilt that he refused to get back into the game. He wanted to undo what he had done and make amends for it somehow. His guilt paralyzed him and he sat and watched for the rest of the game.

So often, I find myself as the little boy. When I do something wrong, I freak out and run to the Father. I love being in the embracing arms of God, but sometimes I am too prideful to accept His forgiveness. It is too good to be true. Can I really just get back into the game? Is it really ok to forget what I have done, allow the Father to pay for my wrong, and start playing again?

It is more than ok. 

The Father is delighted when we accept the forgiveness that cost Him so much. And He wants us to get back into the "game." That's the reason that we are still here on this earth.