August 17, 2022 8:00 pm
After eight-year-old Gabriel underwent surgery to remove a tumor from his brain, it left a noticeable scar on the side of his head. When the boy said he felt like a monster, his dad, Josh, had an idea: demonstrate how much he loved his son by getting a tattoo on the side of his head with the same shape as Gabriel’s scar.
According to the psalmist, this is the kind of empathic and compassionate love God has for “his children” (Psalms 103:13). Using a metaphor drawn from human life, David illustrated God’s love. He said it’s as tender as a good father’s care for his children (v. 17). Just as a human father shows compassion to his children, so God, our heavenly Father, shows love and care toward those who fear Him. He’s a compassionate father, who empathizes with His people.
When we’re weak and feel like we’re unlovable because of the scars of life, may we receive, by faith, our heavenly Father’s love toward us. He demonstrated His compassion by sending his Son to lay “down his life for us” (1 John 3:16)—for our salvation. With this one act, not only can we experience God’s love for us, but we can look to the cross and see it. Aren’t you glad that we have a High Priest who can “empathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15)? He has the scars to prove it.
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Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Our reading today titled A Compassionate Father was written by Marvin Williams. After eight-year-old Gabriel underwent surgery to remove a tumor from his brain, it left a noticeable scar on the side of his head. When the boy said he felt like a monster, his dad, Josh, had an idea. Demonstrate how much he loved his son by getting a tattoo on the side of his head with the same shape as Gabriel's scar. According to the psalmist, this is the kind of empathic and compassionate love God has for his children. Using a metaphor drawn from human life, David illustrated God's love. He said it's as tender as a good father's care for his children. Just as a human father shows compassion to his children, so God, our Heavenly Father, shows love and care towards those who fear him.
He's a compassionate father who empathizes with his people. When we're weak and feel like we're unlovable because of the scars of life, may we receive by faith our Heavenly Father's love toward us. He demonstrated his compassion by sending his son to lay down his life for us, for our salvation. With this one act, not only can we experience God's love for us, but we can look to the cross and see it. Aren't you glad that we have a high priest who can empathize with our weaknesses? And he has the scars to prove it.
Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is taken from Psalm 103 verses 13 through 18. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows how we are formed. He remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass. They flourish like a flower of the field. The wind blows over it and it is gone.
And its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting, the Lord's love is with those who fear him and his righteousness with their children's children, with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your compassionate love and identifying with our pain. Please, Lord, use our scars for your glory. And it's in your name that we pray, amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Wes Ward, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-03-09 12:00:20 / 2023-03-09 12:01:45 / 1
