Fathers, Keep Up the Good Work!
Be Strong, Be Well — Sunday, June 20, 2021
Any father will tell you, being a father is not easy, but it is worth every effort. I often reflect on those years when my children were at home and under my care. I know I failed at times to be the best father I could have been. Then I look at where my children are today, and heaven knows I could not have done it alone. I thank God for His patience with me and help during some of those difficult times. I thank my wife for her patience and partnership in the process of raising some great kids (Ephesians 6:1-4).
Fathers, let’s keep praying for our children. No matter how old they are, children need their fathers praying to the heavenly Father for His blessings on his children’s behalf. David was old and near death when he turned his heart to God and prayed for his son, who would soon be the next king of Israel.
“And give my son Solomon a loyal heart to keep Your commandments and Your testimonies and Your statutes, to do all these things, and to build the temple for which I have made provision” (1 Chronicle 29:19).
Fathers, let’s keep teaching our children. When they are still at home, sit down with them and open the pages of the Bible, and study together. ”And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deuteronomy 6:6–7).
Once they are out on their own, remember, we still have an influence on them by our example. Joshua was an old man when he gave that final speech to Israel (Joshua 24:29). His children would have been older. Yet, he expressed his intentions to continue to teach his children. “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
Fathers, don’t let our children and grandchildren forget who they are in their relationship with God. Moses made this point in (Exodus 10:2), “and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”
Fathers, don’t give up. Keep striving to be better and to do better. With God’s help, we will succeed with our children and our children’s children. Ultimately, the choice of obedience is an individual one. There’s no guarantee our children will stay with God. But when we keep heaven as our goal, doing all we can to arrive there, we live with the hope our family will spend eternity with us. —Chris