Proud moments

The Lord says, "Listen to me, you that want to be saved, you that come to me for help. Think of the rock from which you came, that quarry from which you were cut."

I talked to my aunt recently, who will turn 91 early next year, and she said, "Your mother and father would really be proud of you."

Really?

In Isaiah's writings, among the most beautiful in all the Bible, God tells his people that he will allow them to return home one day, and he tells them that they must listen to him. "Listen to me, my people, listen to what I say: I give my teaching to the nations (gentiles); my laws will bring them light. I will come quickly and save them; the time of my victory is near."

My father never attended church. My mother was very religious, but not very spiritual. Would they really be proud of the way I've turned out? Heck, am I?

I think this whole idea of pleasing our parents is ultimately dangerous. I've written and spoken many times about how my father never told me he loved me, and how that has distorted my desire to please others. So, I wonder whether my father indeed would be "proud" of me.

Ultimately, of course, it matters not. But since I talked with my aunt three or four days ago and her sentence has stuck with me since, clearly it meant something.

Imagine God looking down and saying, as he did over Jesus, "This is my son of whom I am well pleased."

Can we want no less. Can we not want our heavenly Father to look down and be motivated by what we have accomplished to say, "Good job. Atta boy?"

Can we not desire him to say, "But the deliverance I bring will last forever; my victory will endure for all time."

Today strive to do whatever you can to make your Heavenly Father proud of you. See the poor. Help the poor, the disadvantaged, the least of all these. Clothe someone who is cool in this crisp air. Feed someone who is hungry for the bread of life. Give someone a cool drink of both living and "normal" water.

But do none of that simply to be saved. God already has taken care of that. That's not what making him proud of us is about.

Therein lies the difference between heavenly and earthly father. "The Lord says, "Why should you fear mortals, who are no more enduring than grass? Have you forgotten the Lord, who made you, who stretched out the heavens and laid the earth's foundations."

A deep voice echoes, the clouds part, the sun shines through and God says, "This is my son...I am well pleased."

Can't think of anything more wonderful.