Like Mother’s day, we enter this day with many emotions. When the topic of fathers comes up, there are many thoughts that can come to one’s mind. We all know that some man was responsible for helping to bring us into the world. The Bible commands “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) 3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. 4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:1-4). One of the fundamental relationships in society is the relationship between a father and a child. As you notice in the verse, there are responsibilities for both the children and the fathers. When these responsibilities are not carried out before God, then there are drastic consequences in the home, school, workplace, community, and world. The last verse of the Old Testament affirms, “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:6). There is so much that could be said about this topic. I realize every one of us men have failed as men, husbands, and fathers. There is not a single man in this room who is perfect. We all need the forgiveness and grace of God. The only thing that can lift us from the plight our homes have been in is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. |
