You Look Just Like Your Father
Well, now, if you’ve ever watched a lil’ ol’ chipmunk tryin’ to boss around a full‑grown buck or seen a possum hidin’ behind a twig in a tree that’s plum thinner than a toothpick, then you already know life can get real ridiculous faster than an ol’ rooster chasin’ his own shadow. But right in the middle of all that there woodsy foolishness sits one truth sturdier than a strong barn built by Baptist men ‘a-fore sittin’ down to have dinner on the grounds. “See what great love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God and that is what we are” (1 John 3:1). That there verse is thicker than red eye gravy and sweeter than fig preserves on a hot, buttered biscuit.
Don’t you know you belong to God, friend?
When my kids was real little, they for sure carried my habits like a lil’ ol’ mischievous raccoon carries shiny things. Some good. Some questionable. They looked like a mix of their momma and daddy, and their DNA was stamped plum all over ‘em like lil’ muddy pawprints from a hound dog that never once honored the “wipe your feet” rule.
The same thing happens when you give your life to Christ. Somethin’ real supernatural takes place. You’re born again. You receive spiritual DNA from your Heavenly Father. You ain’t adopted on paper like an ol’ stray goat somebody done found wanderin’ behind the feed store. You become a true child with His nature tucked right there inside you.
An’ just like physical children resemble their parents, spiritual children start lookin’ more and more like their Father. You begin to love what He loves. You begin to hate what He hates. You start seein’ people the way He sees ’em. His characteristics begin showin’ up in your life like unexpected blessin’s at a potluck table. And just in case you ever get to wonderin’ whether you really belong to Him, Romans 8:16 says, “The Holy Spirit Himself leans over and whispers to your spirit that you’re one of God’s children.” That’s confirmation clearer than a rooster crowin’ at sunrise that you belong to Him. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ the new creation has come. The old has gone. The new is here” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
First John was written so you can know you’re His. Not hope. Not wish. Know. The Greek word is ginosko which means deep certainty. Confident assurance. The kind of knowing a baby deer has when it curls up beside its mama because it knows exactly whose family it belongs to.
So, look at your life friend. Do you see the family resemblance? Do you see His DNA showin’ up in your desires and reactions? That’s proof. You’re His child. You have His DNA.
Lord, thank You for makin’ me Your child. Help me live like I belong to You. Let Your nature grow in me until folks see You in the way I speak love and serve. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Well, I do declare, friend, as you git to wanderin’ on back into your day, you gotta be lettin’ your confidence stand taller than a crane bird perched on a fence post and your joy bubble up like a spring that never learned how to quit. Let that there family resemblance git to shinin’ brighter than a coal oil lantern swingin’ in a midnight oak tree thicket. You gotta be walkin’ with the steady peace of a child who sho’-nuff knows exactly whose arms is gonna be carryin’ you all the way home.
With joy,
Gwen
