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June 6, 2018

2 Samuel 18:33

The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!”
New International Version (NIV)

                 Parents are not equipped to lose our kids. On a number of occasions, brokenhearted parents have told me that they wished they had died instead of their children. I have listened and hurt with them. We who have never experienced such loss can only imagine the pain.

                On the one hand, David’s son Absalom initiated a rebellion which could only lead to his death or his dad’s. David was right: one of them was going to die. On the other hand, David grieves as only a parent could. Absalom’s death represents David’s third loss of a son. Grief can mix with guilt and devastate us. We hear it in a plaintive father’s cry: “O Absalom, if only I had died instead of you.”

                As a man after God’s own heart, David’s grief mirrors that of his heavenly Father. Someone had to die for our sin. We started a rebellion which would lead to someone’s death. In love, God allowed his Son to die in our place. He literally did what David had wished to do. This offers hope for all of us who have kids. God would rather die than live without us. He loves us with a no-matter-what kind of love.

               God loves our children even more than we do. Every time we hear of children dying we share the Father’s heart. It feels somehow like they are our kids. My friend Calvin Miller once wrote about evangelists as those who love the rebels in the world. With God, we grieve the choices of rebels and we would rather die than let them die in their sin. Paul felt that way about Israel. Do we feel that way about people in our world? Greater love has no one than this . . .

Pray with me:

Father, thank you for so loving the world that you gave your son. Teach us to love people the way that you do. Show us how we can lay down our interests to care for the souls of others. Draw the rebellious ones back to you. With your great grace, heal the hearts of those who have lost children. Help us to be kind to everyone because all have had their hearts broken. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

This year we focus our Every Day with Jesus readings on Jesus’ story. With references to Tallowood's Read Through the Bible in 2018 daily reading plan, let's focus our undivided attention on Jesus and follow where he lead. He will not fail. Neither will we!
Joyfully,
Duane

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