Gtcotr/ss061707
Key Scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." (NIV)
Title: The Blessing of Fatherhood
Because of my testimony about how I met my wife, Brenda, and how I relentlessly pursued a relationship with her, I am often asked by others if I really believe in love at first sight.
Don’t answer this out loud but let me ask you … “Do you believe in love at first sight?”
Do you believe that a person can know how they really feel about someone else in an instant, without really knowing them first, without history or conversation, without knowing how the other person may feel or what the future holds?
Well, I do.
Not only did I fall in love with my wife, Brenda, at first sight, but I have fallen in love at first sight several times since then … and I have never regretted it, not one single time.
I fell in love with my daughter the very first time I saw her. It happened to me with my son, with each of my grandchildren and I imagine, although I can’t remember, that I fell in love with my mother the very first time I looked up into her eyes as well.
True love belongs to those who are willing to risk their heart on their future.
Fatherhood not only gave me the experience of falling in love at first sight but it also gave me a lot of other firsts in my life.
I was there for the birth of my first child.
I was there for the first breath
I was there for the first smile
I was there for the first word
The first step
The first fall
The first attempt to ride a bicycle
The first day at school
The first play
The first graduation
The first job
The first time to drive a car, and the first wreck
The first purchase of their own car and insurance
The birth of the first child of their very own
Not only did being a father give me a lot of firsts but … Being a father has also given me a tremendous education. I know am fairly educated in things I would not have known if I had not become a father.
I have been schooled in such things as:
Pre-natal care
Stretch marks
Water retention
Delivery
Sleep deprivation
Baby sitting
Nursing
Postpartum blues
Diet and exercise
Marriage counseling
School teaching
Problem solving
Athletics
Crisis counseling
Negotiating
True and Lasting Friendships
I have been called upon to give definitive answers to questions about:
Animal husbandry
Weather formation
Why roses have thorns
How to make ice cream
Where does snow come from, Where do babies come from
In what ways are little boys and little girls different
Why aren’t we there yet
Where the Easter bunny lives
What colleges to apply to
Which career to pursue
Interest rates
Stock portfolios
Home buying
Retirement funds
Being a father has taken me to ball games, school functions, the mall, on countless job interviews, hospital visits, fourth of July celebrations, to museums, movies, plays and ceremonies, I’ve traveled from one side of these United States to the other visiting theme parks and national monuments, vacationed in more than two dozen foreign countries and visited US Air Bases from Germany to South Korea, I’ve built a lifetime of memories, I’ve been the Easter Bunny, Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy and Superman, I’ve played chase, changed diapers, laughed till I cried and cried till I’ve gone to sleep. I have the power to help and the power to hurt, to encourage and to discourage, I’ve been allowed to handle young impressionable lives and train them for the future. All of this because I am a father.
As far as my children were concerned, my voice was the voice of God for their young lives. Now, in their mature years, leading their own families, I am proud that they still seek my counsel for life’s major decisions.
In 1998 both my son and my daughter got married eight days apart. My son joined the USAF and my daughter moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma with her husband to attend College.
That first day my wife and I were home, all alone, she found me sitting in the den crying. Being the good wife she is, she attempted to comfort me. Along with her hugs she asked me what was wrong. I told her that I felt lost because I had just realized for the first time that all I ever wanted to be was a father. What, I asked her, was I going to do with the rest of my life?
Today, more than nine years and six wonderful grandchildren later, I closely identify with one prominent character in the bible who feels the same way I do. Which bible character do you suppose I am talking about?
It’s someone who wanted to be a father, who wanted to love and care for his children, build them a strong and solid foundation and give them a happy and prosperous future. He wanted his children to love him and trust his counsel all the days of their life. Who is this bible character I am talking about?
Do you suppose it is Abraham? No, although he is a good example – (read Genesis 18:18-19). How about Jacob? No, but another good one. Perhaps it’s Joseph or Noah, Simon or Phillip who was the father of four grown daughters who had the gift of prophecy. No, none of these, although I do understand each of them more now than I did when I was younger.
The bible character I am referring to that I so closely identify with is the main character of the bible: It’s God! I see God as my pattern Father, my example of what a father should be. I feel His heart.
Now, looking back on my life as a father, I can understand Him so much better. His motives are so much clearer and His counsel more trusted.
You see, all God ever wanted to be was a Father. When He could have patterned Himself after anything and revealed Himself to mankind in any form, He chose to cast Himself in the image of a loving, kind and caring Father.
You see, God wanted to be a Father and so He created the heavens and the earth, the cattle, sheep, trees and all living things, the sun and the moon, the waters and the dry ground. He planted a garden in Eden where His children would be safe and could grow up under His guidance. His hopes were high.
From the dust of the ground God created mankind and gave them His Own Spirit. When mankind fell into sin, God made a way to pay for their sin with His Own Sacrifice … like a Father does so often.
God gave His children His word to guide them and His Spirit to provide for them. He promised to never leave us nor forsake us. His plans for His children are beyond imagination. Soon we will see Him face to face.
Today, our father’s day message comes from the book of Psalms. Won’t you turn to Psalms 103 and let’s see the pattern Father.
Psalms 103 (NIV)
1 ¶ Of David. Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.
6 ¶ The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the children of Israel:
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious; slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbour his anger for ever;
10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him
All God has ever wanted to be is a Father to you. Won’t you let Him?
Become a child of God today. Be born into His family by embracing Jesus the Messiah as the Son of God and Savior of your soul.
To the father’s among us … What a privilege! What an experience! What an education!
Happy Father’s Day!
I challenge you, read the bible and pattern yourself after God.
