Being a Dead-Beat Child of God

Lately, Youngest Son has taken to telling Hubby he is the second best daddy. Then he quickly explains, "Because God is the first best!"

What a wonderful concept! I concentrate on this aspect when teaching on Father's Day in junior church. So many kids do not have a father in their lives; or the father they have is disconnected to them.

God the Father is always in our lives and is always connected to us. 

Many people unfortunately have a dead-beat dad in their lives. What constitutes a dead-beat dad?

• Not around on a daily, or frequent, basis for the child.
• Absent during important events for the child; soccer game, play, graduation, etc.
• Does not contribute financially to the child.

Oh, dear. These characteristics apply to me.

Obviously as a female, I am not a dead-beat dad.  But I was a dead-beat child of God.

In my younger days, I walked away from having a personal relationship with God. I was still saved by grace, but I was fully missing out on the blessings of being personal with our awesome God.

•  Not around on a daily, or frequent, basis for the child.  I was rarely in church, much less taking the time to talk with God. Oh, wait! I did when I was caught in a bad situation that was usually of my own making. 
•  Absent during important events for the child; soccer game, play, graduation, etc. I treated Sunday more like my day off instead of the Lord's Day. The same goes for Christmas and Resurrection Sunday.
• Does not contribute financially to the child. I'm sure you're getting the point by now how far away I was from God, so I'm sure you can connect the dots and realize I obviously was not tithing. 

Yikes. I missed out on so much of life with God.

What is interesting is the definition of dead-beat I found in the dictionary:

dead-beat  a person who tries to evade paying debts

There is one debt that no one is going to be able to evade. The debt of sin.

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23

We might think we have cleverly escaped paying this debt, but there will come a time where we all will have to settle our accounts. Why not just come to the Father and stop being a dead-beat child?

Our relationship with the Father is awesome. If you do not have a good relationship, or any, with your earthly father, here is a devotion for you:

Daddy's Girl