Like Father, Like Son
Bible Reading: John 14:8-11
Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! John 14:9
HOW WOULD YOU feel if someone said to you, “You’re so much like your dad!”? It all depends on what your dad is like, right? If Dad has movie-star looks and Nobel prize-winning brains, you might pat yourself on the back because people think you’re like him. But if he’s like most dads — wiry hairs sprouting from his ears — you might hope you’re not like him, at least not in that way.
So just how similar are you and your father? Check any statements below that describe how you are alike. (If you prefer, compare yourself to your mother, older sibling, or another relative.) Do you have …
_____ the same eye color?
_____ the same hair color?
_____ the same body type and facial features?
_____ the same basic personality traits?
_____ the same musical and artistic talents-or lack thereof?
_____ the same spiritual goals in life?
_____ the same wiry hairs growing out of your ears?
_____ the same taste in TV, movies, and music?
_____ the same food likes and dislikes?
_____ the same sense of humor?
If you resemble your father closely enough, even people who don’t know him will get a good idea of what he is like by looking at you.
If you asked Jesus if he was a lot like his Father, he would answer, “Absolutely!” Jesus not only is your way to get to his Father, he also is your way to know what God the Father is like. Jesus is “the visible image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1: 15). So the more you know about what Jesus said and did, the more you know about God. When you see Christ’s compassion for people, for example, you know God is compassionate. Or when you read Christ’s words of truth, you know God is truth. God the Father wants you to know him.
You might not show a striking, obvious resemblance to how your dad looks or acts or talks. But Jesus shows you exactly what God is like. Get to know the Son, and you get to know the Father.
REFLECT: What do you know about God because you have seen it in Jesus? What do you see in Jesus that attracts you to God?
PRAY:God, you could have hidden yourself and made it tough to get to know you. I’m grateful that Jesus shows me what you are like.