Ready:
“For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’” – Romains 8:15
Set:
Imagine receiving an invitation to play or work for a legendary, “larger than life” coach. Because of your great admiration for this coach, being part of his or her program feels pretty intimidating. Once you join the team, you find that the coach is even more impressive in person than from afar. But you also discover that he or she is warm, approachable and wants you to thrive. You develop a relationship with this coach that is marked by both deep respect and wonderful closeness.
This imaginary scenario offers a glimpse of a very real invitation: the opportunity to know God and be part of His team. We see in the Bible that God is Most High, the great King over all the earth. He is worthy of our deepest awe and respect. But there is more to who God is. Jesus says that we can also know God as our Father. When the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray, Jesus responds, “Whenever you pray, say, ‘Father, your name be honored as holy…’” (Luke 11:2).
Through His sacrificial death for our sins and victorious resurrection, Jesus enables us to be adopted into God’s family and know God as our Father. We are given the Spirit when we respond in faith to Christ. According to Romans 8:15, the Spirit affirms that, despite what our sin deserves, we no longer need to be fearful of God. Instead, we call Him “Abba, Father.”
Abba, the Aramaic word for Father, carries the sense of a close family relationship. To know God as “Abba, Father” gives us such security. We are secure in knowing that God the Father has made us a full and eternal member of His family. We are secure in knowing our Father always welcomes us when we come to Him with whatever is on our mind or taking place in our life. And we are secure in knowing our Father cares deeply for us as His dearly loved children.
Through Christ, God invites you into a relationship that is marked by both deep respect of Him as the Most High and wonderful closeness with Him as Your Father. As You are filled with awe of God and also completely secure in Him, you can live and compete for His glory.
Go:
How does the invitation to know God as “Abba, Father” help you understand who He is?
What impact does the security of being a dearly loved child of the Father have on how you compete or coach?
Workout:
Overtime:
“Father, thank You that You love me and You’ve adopted me into Your family. Thank You that You desire for me to experience a close relationship with You. I pray that I would live and compete out of the security of being Your dearly loved child. Amen.”