Sunday: child of God

We sang a song in church today - "No longer Slaves" and the lyric that really hit me was "I'm no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God."

It made me start thinking about what it meant to be a child of God.  Usually when I've heard 'child of God' the underlying meaning is that our inheritance in is heaven and that's where we will be going when we die.  This time I started thinking about the parent-child relationship.  (Not to be confused with the parent-teen relationship or the parent-adult relationship.)  How I, as a parent, can cause or let {small} harms come to my child and they come running to me for comfort.  It really amazes me that I can be the cause of their discontent, and yet I'm also their comfort.  I can change the analogy to God and me.  Sometimes it's worrisome that if something really, really bad happens I won't run to God.  I can take comfort in the promise that if, and when, bad things happen I'll run to God because where else would I go?

A child can also say incorrect and mean things.  The parent doesn't disown the child...the parent can see the reasons for the statements and understand the real meaning of what the child is trying to say.  God can understand me too, even when my words are incorrect.