As a father I have a choice, I can let this Father’s Day go by and simply enjoy the acknowledgement from my children and the nice crafts/gifts they have prepared or I can take the time to reflect on my role as a father and what responsibilities come with the title of “Father”. When I think of what the most important responsibility I have as a father is, I am reminded of Joshua and the example he was to us. Joshua had many responsibilities such as leading the children of Israel into the land of Canaan; however, he knew his greatest responsibility was to his own family. In Joshua 24:15, he said “As For Me And My House We Will Serve the Lord”. Nothing else was more important to him.
When I reflect on my own life, I am challenged as I question how serious I truly am about making the same statement Joshua did. It is easy to fall into the trap of just living a busy life and not setting aside the time to actively teach my children about Jesus. Proverbs 22:6 says “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” If I do not get serious about it now, it may be too late later. Deuteronomy 19-20 says “Teach (the words of the Lord) to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”. I guess that says it all… We are to be constantly teaching. Just as it was with Joshua, it must be our highest priority!
I understand that as a father it starts with me. I can not expect my children to do something I don’t do myself. That is the scary part because Jesus said in Revelation 3:15-16 that if we are lukewarm, He will vomit us out of His mouth. He would rather us be either hot or cold. Joshua definitely was not leading his family to lead a lukewarm lifestyle and neither should we. We need to get to the point where we are totally desperate to have Him. By desperate I mean totally lost without Him. So desperate that nothing else will do. If the things that make us busy in life get between us and God, they must go. Nothing else can hold the top spot in what occupies our time, thoughts and actions.
I guess to make the point as bluntly as I can, I must spell out the unwatered down truth which is that a lukewarm lifestyle will damn us to an eternity in hell. I can only believe that those that are vomited will not enter the gates of Heaven. Everyday that we live our life as the person we know we are not supposed to be and doing the things we know we ought not be doing, is a day we will never get back. We can’t fix our prayer life or the way we live once we are standing at the judgement seat. We can’t repent then either… it will be too late!
Too many times we look at the sin in our lives as something other than sin. We look at it like building a house… a challenge, a work in progress. It is important that our children understand what repentance truly means. It is not asking for forgiveness or even trying to stop the sin. Repentance is a total change of heart. It is saying “God I want You… all of You! You hate this sin; therefore, I hate it. I hate it to the point that if I were to continue, it would make me sick.” God and sin can not abide in the same place so God can only fill the void where the sin was if we truly repent from it and let it all go. If we don’t, we will find ourselves going right back to where we were before.
Wow… The responsibility of being a father is huge! My challenge to every father out there is to seriously reflect on the scriptures and then follow Joshua’s example… Will you and your house serve the Lord? Will you serve Him with desperation? On this Father’s Day I am making the pledge that as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
You must be logged in to post a comment.