On my walk in the neighborhood park this afternoon, I spotted a father picking up his son from what appeared to be basketball practice. The kid was about 10 years old. He was dressed in a snazzy outfit, complete with jersey and droopy basketball shorts. I can only imagine how much the kid wanted to be like his favorite basketball star (I couldn’t tell which basketball player’s name was stitched on his jersey). The kid walked with a swagger, projecting about as much bravado as a 10-year old could muster. As father and son walked side by side, I saw the father place his hands on son’s shoulder. “I’m proud of you,” the father’s gesture seemed to say. The son responded by nudging his head ever so slightly into his father’s side in an embrace. His father’s approval gave him more confidence than a jersey could ever inspire.
That got me thinking — how often do we act like the son did? In comparison to our heavenly Father, aren’t we just like powerless children? Yet, we try to build up our self-confidence in artificial ways. We puff out our chests, tout our titles, dress ourselves in the accouterments of power and wealth. We work hard to get others to like us. We feed on their approval. None of that actually works. In the end, it’s the approval of our heavenly Father that makes us confident of who we are. Thank God that if we receive Christ as Savior, God looks upon us and sees Jesus. Does He approve of Jesus? Oh, you better believe it.
nice