Yesterday was the celebration of Father’s Day throughout our country. It is the day when we recognize those men who have had the wonderful blessing and gift of being a father. Whether or not the fatherhood came through being the biological dad, by adoption, or in some other means which placed them in this honored position, the role of a father is a vocation that carries with it a great deal of responsibility! God has placed on father’s some clear expectations that He knows is necessary in the vocation they have been called into.
Holy Scripture has quite a bit to say to us fathers on how we are to live and conduct ourselves as godly men and dads:
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. And whose hope is in the Lord. Jeremiah 17:7
The righteous who walk in integrity – blessed are his children after him! Proverbs 20:7
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. Psalm 103:13
Fathers do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4
Bring your children up in the way that they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6
And then one of the most important things we can do as godly fathers:
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you stand up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:6-9
If we are to raise children who are to follow the Lord, we as fathers need to show them the way. God expects dads to be the spiritual heads of the household. This is our rightful duty, honor, privilege, and calling, and we are not to shirk this expectation or pass it off to someone else.
Our Heavenly Father gives us the perfect example to follow in how He loves, cares for, provides for, and guides us as His dearly loved children. May we step up as dads/fathers and be the men God made us to be, especially within our homes!!!!!!!!!! Pastor McCarty