For some Father’s day is a wonderful day of celebration and joy, for others it’s complex, marked by grief, sadness or regret. I was talking about a light hearted scenario where I wished I had the parents who would feed me ice-cream 3 meals a day all weekend…but for some of us, we may have had legitimate, personal and even painful reasons for wishing your experience of family or being parented was something other than what it is or was.
And so in the midst of the joy and (for some) complexity of Father’s Day this year, as we turn to the Scriptures we’re going to put a hold on our series in the book of Nehemiah for a week, to look at the fact that for the follower of Christ, the reality is – you are part of another family.
Romans 8:12-17 NIV
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.