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The Love of Parents and of God
Preached in Oak Ridge, TN 1-03-10 and Athens, TN 1-17-10
Rainbow & Tiny: When the girls were younger, I told them a story about a beautiful ruby-throated hummingbird called Rainbow and his son Tiny. Rainbow was the brilliantly colored daddy and Tiny was the smallest and weakest of Rainbow’s three male hummingbirds. Tiny could not fly very far but his brothers, dad, and mom would always include him in all their activities and would give him rides on their backs. Then it was time for Rainbow to have a talk with his beautiful boys. He told two of the brothers it was time for them to go off and start their own families. They immediately said, “What about Tiny?” Rainbow told them that Tiny would stay with him and their mother. Tiny was very relieved because he knew he was unable to make it on his own. His mom and dad took care of him and they learned many lessons from Tiny because he was always kind to all the other birds and animals and was always thankful to those who helped him. His brothers brought their families by to visit regularly. Tiny’s dad and mom made sure they brought Tiny with them wherever they went and always made sure he was taken care of in his special way. The moral to this story was that sometimes parents have to take care of special children their entire life. Christian parents exhibit the love of God in these cases and count this task as a blessing rather than a burden.
Real Life Examples: Much like orphans and widows in need who do not have anyone to care for them (James 1:26-27); a special needs child cannot fend for himself. Many of you may know loving parents of special needs children. I know of Christian parents whose oldest boy is a special needs child while the younger two boys are able to function normally. I saw this couple recently with their son who is now over 20 years old, sitting in between his parents in the assembly during a gospel meeting. Their love for their child has been obvious to me the 14 years I have known them. After services they put on his shoes and help him walk out the building, with joy on their faces the whole time. This is a special kind of love that touches us all; A love of purity and devotion.
The Love of God: We need to realize something very important! We Christians are all those needy children who never develop enough to be completely on our own! The illustrations of Rainbow & Tiny, those who care for widows and orphans, and those parents who care for their special needs children for their entire lives, give us some powerful ways to understand the love God has for us!
- Love that is looking out for all our needs
- Long that does not grow weary forgiving children that continue to mess up
- Love that suffers long for children that are not perfect and always need attention
- Love that never leaves us by ourselves
- Love that helps us our entire life and for eternity
Notice our dependence on God:
Christians are totally dependent upon God each day! Song - I Need Thee Every Hour (#288)
The story of Rainbow & Tiny, those who care for widows and orphans, loving parents of special needs children, and how God loves us also show that we all have a greater capacity to love than we think! God has given His children the ability to love our family, wives and husbands, children, lost friends and family members, lost co-workers and classmates, and Father in Heaven a lot more than we think! Wouldn’t it be a great New Year’s resolution to simply resolve to love our family, our lost friends, and God more this year?
God’s Provisions for His Children:
- Forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7-10,
- Forgiveness when we fall (1
- Material blessings (Matthew 6:30-34)
- Help in time of need (2 Timothy 4:16-18)
- Strengthening through trials (James 1:2-4)
- Long suffering when we struggle (1 Corinthians 13:4)
What we learned today is that we all need a loving Father and a loving Lord. We cannot make it on our own. What about you this morning? Can you call God your Father and Christ your Savior? If you cannot, why not confess that Jesus is the Son of God, repent of your sins, and be baptized to wash away your sins? Then you can call God your Father and Christ your Savior. And they will provide for all your needs in this life and for eternity! Let us know if we can assist you while we stand and sing.
