Pleasing Dad

Hebrews 13:1-17

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2013%3A1-17&version=NIV;NLT

 

Growing up there wasn’t anybody that I wanted to make proud of me more than my Father. I desperately needed his love and approval, and I’d do anything to get it.

 

Before my senior year of high school, my Dad got a job in a different state. Because I wanted to finish school with my childhood friends, my parents made arrangements for me to live with a family friend.

 

With plans to leave soon, my parents came to the last football game that they would ever see me play. The problem was that I spent most of my time on the bench.

 

Desperately wanting to get into the game to do something special, the coach called my name. I wanted to do something, anything to make my Dad notice me; to make him proud; to make him stand up and yell, “That’s my son!”

 

Hebrews 13 gives us a lot of ways to please God. In the first paragraph alone, the writer says to love one another; to show hospitality; to remember those that are in prison;1 and to comfort those who are suffering.

 

He also reminds us that God is always with us; that he will never leave us; that he is the same “yesterday, today and forever”; and that Jesus suffered and died for us to make us holy. And how are we to respond to who God is and what He has done?

 

¹⁵ Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.           NLT

 

In the moment of that high school football game, I would have run through a brick wall for my Dad. Instead, I picked out an overweight defensive lineman who was huffing and puffing about twenty yards from the ball carrier and leveled him with my best block ever. My Dad never mentioned the play.

 

But I have a Heavenly Father who is always with me; who loves me the same as He did yesterday, today and tomorrow no matter what I do or don’t do; who loved me so much that He sent His one and only son to die for me.

 

That’s the Dad that I want to make proud of me.

 

 

 

 

Sharing Is Caring

Hebrews 13:15-16
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Happy Thanksgiving. I pray you are having a blessed day, and taking time to thank God for all that He has given you. I also pray that you will be able to share that blessing with others, especially with someone who needs some kindness.

Our scripture passage says, “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” As my eleven year old put is “sharing is caring”.

It funny but so true. When Evan was three I would take him to the park several times a week and he always brought two or three cars with him. One to play with and the others to share. He learned quickly that people like it when you share.

Our passage today says it pleases God. So, on a day when we like to be with family make sure you share a bit of yourself with someone who needs your kindness. Because after all, sharing is caring.

What Pleases God?

 (What does the Lord Require?)

Micah 6:6-8

The last high school football game that my Dad ever saw me play was memorable… kinda. Actually there’s only one play that I really remember. It was a running play where the ball carrier ended up on the far side of the field. In front of me was an overweight defensive lineman who was huffing and puffing on every step he took.

Because we were so far from the ball carrier, anything that I did was going to be inconsequential. Yet I knew this was my opportunity. I laid the hardest block on him that I could, dropping him to the ground like a rock.

 It had absolutely no impact on the outcome of the play, or the game. But it was my moment to shine. I wanted my Dad to be proud of me; to earn his approval.

Micah asks the people of Israel what they can do to earn their Heavenly Father’s approval.

⁶ “How can we make up to you for what we’ve done?” you ask. “Shall we bow before the Lord with offerings of yearling calves?” Oh no! ⁷ For if you offered him thousands of rams and ten thousands of rivers of olive oil—would that please him? Would he be satisfied?            TLB

 Based on these verses, it seems that Israel can’t do anything to earn God’s approval. However, in the very next verse, through an ironic twist, Micah seems to foreshadow what God’s plan of redemption will actually be.

 If you sacrificed your oldest child, would that make him glad? Then would he forgive your sins? Of course not!             TLB

But if God sacrificed His “oldest child”, and made it possible for us to invite him into our heart, that would please our Heavenly Father. Then and only then, will we be able to stand before Him and hear Him say, “Well done faithful servant.”

“What does the Lord require of you? But to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your Lord and Savior.”         NIV