Resources/Articles
What God the Father Wants Most (1)
Fathers have a defensive, warning mode kick in when they say: “Don’t touch that. It will kill you!” “If you stand on that, it will break!” “Don’t run over the dog with the 4-wheeler!” “If you hit the dog, he may turn and bite you!” Fathers are often “warners.” The warning is for a child to correct his/her behavior or to protect a child from being hurt or hurting someone.
Read carefully the statement of God the Father in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Bellal? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them,’ says the Lord, ‘and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me,’ says the Lord Almighty.”
Our Father, God, warns us often in several places in scripture. It is for our protection. It is character forming. It provides an avenue to avoid. His words are motivated by love for us. The above passage displays the difference in the children who follow the ways of the world versus those who follow the ways of God. They are very opposite. They are not the same. Stay away from one. Come near to the other. One is evil. The other is good. One path leads to God the Father. The other path is designed by “the father” of lies (John 8:44).
God the Father wants us to know and understand Him. Have you ever been introduced to someone at work, a neighbor, member of a ball team, or even dated someone about whom you wanted to know more? It was because there was something intriguing about them. They caught your attention. Have you thought the same about God? Has He ever caught your attention? He wants you to give Him undivided attention (Matthew 22:37). If you haven’t, consider a few things about Him.
“Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:23-24). Did you know those things about God? Some may already know those things, yet this knowledge is what God petitions us to understand, not just know a good quality He has. He asks of us to believe in Him - not just an existence of Him, but a trusting, diligent, recognition of what He has done, is doing, and will do. Those who do so are the ones He will reward (Hebrews 11:6).
Once we soberly consider the words of Jeremiah 9, think about this: Have you ever known God to hurt you, cause you to stumble, lead you astray, lie to you, or not hold to His promises? Have you ever known God not to be fair? He will punish the wrong. He does not let you experience the consequences of listening to false teaching. The law of gravity He established does not stop once you jump off a 10-foot-high platform. Has He not blessed you with the provisions of health and opportunities to spiritually mature? God wants you to know and understand these properties of His character.
“Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works” (Nehemiah 9:32-35). God was and is always righteous. God wants us to know His righteousness and no other way is right (Proverbs 14:12).
We can readily admit God’s judgments, counsels, and “ways are past tracing out” (Romans 11:33-34). Knowing this should not prevent us from reading and searching what is revealed about God. If we meet someone for the first time and become interested in them, we seldom say, “They are too complicated. I will never understand anything about them.” Instead, we say, “I want to know more about them.” As a result, your relationship with them grows. YOu do not leave them. You understand them more. You become closer to them. It is what you do not know or understand about them which causes you to WANT to be with them again.
The same is true with God. You may think or say, “What is God doing? Why is God asking me to do this? How is God going to make this work out?” Rather than walk away with those questions still unanswered, read, study, and believe God knows what He is doing. Hear what He is asking of you. Follow His will. This way you begin to understand what God the Father wants most - For You to Know and Understand Him.
