Unnoticed, Oft Forgotten Love - Reflections from Hosea (#16)

When Israel was a child, I loved him

It was I who taught Ephraim to walk

I took them up by their arms

But they did not know that I healed them

I led them with cords of kindness,

with bands of love

...I bend down to them and fed them

(Hosea 11:1-4)

I noticed in a recent picture of my son (Cameron) and his son (Dylan) a small arm resting gently across the back of dad's neck, the hand curled around and resting on the front of dad's shoulder.

Dylan loves his dad, and his dad deeply loves Dylan.

In his Upward basket uniform, Dylan is about to play yet another Saturday game at a gymnasium, one owned by a local church.  Cameron won't miss a moment.

There's a special bond between a godly dad and his adoring kids.  They demand much of him, but most of the time, he's more than willing to provide everything they need.  Even more.  When he comes home, they run to him and he "takes them up by their arms."  He "leads them with cords of kindness, with bands of love." 

Cameron does it with Janelle, his all-world-wife partner.

TRAGIC WHEN UNREQUITED

Nothing should ruin the picture that came to mind with the previous words.  But something does.

That something is when the children refuse to be fully aware how much the dad has sacrificed, how much he's relentlessly provided.    "My people are bent on turning away from me..." (Hosea 11:7).  And God ponders the hurt, expressing it in sacred Scripture. 

Read the other side of the Bible (i.e., the New Testament) -- especially the letters from the apostles to the disciples of Jesus Christ -- and you'll hear an important bell sounded virtually on every page. 

"Give thanks in everything."  "And be thankful..."  "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

THE TRUTH IS...

God has given everyone everything he or she has.  "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights..." (James 1).

Thankfulness is when we eagerly slip our arm around the back of our Father, let our hand rest gently on his shoulder, and smile big when someone takes the picture.   Should you find your Father's neck and shoulder with your hand today as you're about to play the game today, whisper in His ear how much you love Him...and know how much He has provided for you.