How great the love of the Father!

I don't know if you have ever had one of those realisations that arrest you, mid-thought, mid-speech, mid-life, without the crisis. A story was told by a friend of a time when he saved his son's life. It illustrates the worth that a father places on the life of his child, and I am sure his example would form the basis of many an aspiration.


Given the time of his life and his career, my friend was an upwardly mobile young man who believed in procuring only the best for himself and his family. He prized amongst his possessions a two door sports model sedan. It was one of the top of the range cars available at that time and had all sorts of additional safety features, one of them being a self-locking device if left standing unattended for too long. His wife left their five month-old baby asleep in the back seat of this car and the keys on the seat.

The intelligent piece of engineering that this was - it locked itself - keys inside, baby inside, windows closed. Panic ensued. Security companies were called and before long a mini-seminar was underway as how best to get to the child.

At this point my friend arrives having presumably been called by his wife, who by this time was in a state of extreme panic. The child, it appeared was already feeling the effects of a harsh African Sun, and had passed out. My friend without hesitation requested one of the security company officers to fetch a crow bar, and without hesitation wedged the bar into the door of the car and forced it open in order to rescue his son.

The surrounding reaction was one of incredulity. How could he force this bar into car door and so callously wedge it open?

His response - "What do you mean? That baby is my son and he is worth thousands of these cars."

So too our Dad. He will do anything, move heaven and earth and then back again to save us. I have an image of Father taking a crowbar and wedging open the doors of death and hell. I have an image of Father taking a crowbar and wedging open hearts that are cold  and wrapped around our earthly treasures.

Why? Because whatever we are holding onto and prizing so highly in terms of our own possessions or status, God values us, our lives our souls, our freedom, of thousands more times value than this.

He gave His only Son that we might have life, and have it to the full.