God Loves You, Boy

By Todd Faller

In my junior high days, I remember asking my father what was so special about the Bible. I'd found it confusing, "What's the point?" I asked.

He then gave me the best summary of the Bible I ever heard. "The Bible says God loves you, boy," he said, "and you can take that to the bank."

I thought of my dad again, and his one-sentence summary of Scripture, when as an adult I read the excerpt from Romans: "How deep are the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God." My father always used his own wisdom to bolster our faith, to model good behavior, and to whet ourappetite for the riches of Scripture. "It's a today book," he would say. "If you think it's just a history book, you might as well stick it back on the shelf and wait for the movie."

I remember, too, the time I was caught throwing water balloons through the screen door of the little church down the street. A police officer provided me with a ride home, where my father greeted us at the door. Fully expecting the worst, I went to my room and waited.

A short time later, Dad entered the room and pulled the desk chair over to where I was sitting on the bed. "Didn't you hear the voice?" he asked.


Dad was a great one for planting mental seeds to make us think, but this question caught me by surprise. "You know," he continued, "the voice inside you."

I stared at him, still not comprehending.

"Surely you heard yourself say, 'This is stupid. This is wrong. Don't do it.' Do you remember hearing that voice now?"

"Yeah," I answered, "I guess so."

"Well, that's God, living inside you. God loves you, boy, and God is always trying to help you do the right thing. Listen to that voice."

Then Dad smiled and held up the Bible on the desk. "It's in the book," he said. With that, he rose and walked to the door. "God loves you, boy," he told me, "and so do I." Then he left. But his lesson in understanding, forgiveness, and awareness remains with me to this day.