do you want a grandfather in heaven?

We're spending the year with C.S. Lewis in a collection called A Year with C.S. Lewis, which is available from bn.com for $2.99 as an e-book you can read on your computer, smart phone, or tablet. Today we read the excerpt for January 10.

Lewis today talks about the grandfather in heaven that he (he admits) and many other people sometimes wish they had in heaven rather than a FATHER in heaven. And I do admit that when I'm tempted to sin, that thought is alluring.

But we really DON'T want that, and I'll tell you why. If God were just a doddering old senile person who winks at our sins and just wants us to have fun, then He wouldn't be much help in our becoming better people. We go to God not just for comfort, but for challenge. We go to Him to see what right looks like.

It's kind of like the ruler I pictured above. When I want to build something, I need to be able to measure with an accurate measuring device that doesn't care if it hurts my feelings. I need to know that I've cut this thing too short, or that it's not really 9 inches from here to there like I thought it was. I need a standard that doesn't change because the moral climate shifts or because it doesn't want to offend anyone.

When I'm building something as important as my character, or the character of those I care about, I need that same kind of standard. One that doesn't shift around and make me guess where the lines are. I need to KNOW that this is wrong and that is right, or I can't build anything that will last.

We feel like we want a grandfather in heaven. But we desperately need exactly what we've got - a Father who both loves us and wants us to be the perfect people He's helping us become.

God, thanks for being You.