A Father's Way Of Life

Subject: A Fathers Way Of Life

Fathers come in all shapes and sizes. Short, tall, thin and heavy. Each of our fathers had different sets of skills and varying personality traits. Some of our fathers are still very strong in their health and some  require us now to be the gentle caregivers for them.  Some of our fathers have transitioned on ahead of us, leaving us with delightful, memories of their  commitment, their work ethic, and their providing for us. And we remember  how they served the Lord with faithfulness.  And we can thank God for them. 

But, then there are also those fathers who have gone out of our lives and any intentional  effort to remember them evokes painful memories. If that is our experience, today God our Father invites us to a place of forgiveness, restoration, and healing. The good news is that by the grace of God, we can move forward in life, growing  in our  relationship with our Lord and savior, the one who sustains us through all things as we  get to know our Heavenly Father who never fails us. 

How can fathers today, live a life that aligns with God's wisdom and blessings?

Proposition: We will briefly explore this question through the lens of scripture, while  emphasizing the importance of living righteously, embracing God's word, and passing on faith tradition to the next generation.
I’m not here  to entertain you with my thoughts alone, so  I’m going to have to call in some scriptural witnesses that will testify in answer to this great question. Can I call my first witness?  My first witness is Psalm 1 that lets us  know that:

1- God Blesses Our Being Different

(Psalm 1:1NIV) 
Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,

In this short passage of scripture, God reveals that there is a blessing for the person who will  intentionally separate himself or herself, from those who’s way of life is wicked and sinful. We are called to be different than those who ridicule the idea of there being a God that is greater than themselves. We are called to be different than those  who reject God’s righteousness and his standard  for living.  

When we  refuse  to run with, or partner with  those who live without reverence for God and his prescribed manner of living, we position ourselves for God's blessing.   So today when a man,  a father,  aligns himself with God's wisdom and rejects the ways of the world, he sets a powerful example for his family and paves the way for a life filled with divine favor and guidance."

So young fathers, be different than those who live their lives moving  from one sin to another. 

But Gods prescription for spiritual wellness and being blessed doesn’t stop at just being different.  We are  to seek and embrace God’s wise counsel that comes through His word that sustains us. 

The scripture continues to  describe the blessed man as one ²  whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

As people of faith who have been given a new start, we  have the privilege of having the written Word of God, in our bibles. Through the words in the Bible  GOD tells us all about Himself and who we are in relation to God.  In our Baptist tradition we highly value the word of the Lord. 

1. The Scriptures.
   We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us, and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions shall be tried.

So fathers, if we want to be blessed, according to this  scripture, we should live differently than the reprobate sinner, but our being different is  sustained and nourished by our prayerful reading and mediating  on the Word of God day and night. Be reminded today that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. 

And when we embrace the word of the Lord and follow God’s wise counsel, then the scripture says that  we are   ³   like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.  

Let me tell you this – the tree planted by the water,  is nourished by the water.  The tree is firmly planted in close proximity to the source of its life—it is fixed in its position of closeness to the water.  And in the same way, oh how good it is, how sweet it is, for us to be planted, standing firm, without running away, but remaining close to the source of our living water—how good it is to be in close proximity to the God who nourishes us and sustains us along our faith journey. That closeness is made available through Jesus. 

Speaking of such a man who embraces this way of life the psalmist writes “Whatever he does prospers.”

My next witness scriptural witness to testify in answer to the question: How can fathers today, live a life that aligns with God's wisdom and blessings?

 Deuteronomy  6:5-7 that teaches us about

2- Loving God and Leading By Example 

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 (NIV)
 ⁵  Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
⁶  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
⁷  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 get up.

 I must share with you today that:

1- Loving the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength, is more than a just a feeling. It is more than being able intellectualize the scripture and having scholarly theological debates. Loving God is reciprocating back to God the love that he has shown you. Guess what, one of the ways through which the depth of our love for God shows up is in how we treat and serve other people. Be reminded of the words of Jesus who said “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” 

The scripture goes on to say: 

    ⁶  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 

The word of God should become embedded in our hearts.

The heart holds significant symbolic and theological meaning in the Bible, 

1.The heart is often depicted as the seat of emotions, desires, and will. It represents the core of a person’s being. 

2-Spiritual transformation begins in the heart. God desires a heart that is open, pure, and receptive to His will.

3-  The condition of the heart affects the depth  of one’s worship and devotion to God. You have heard

•Matthew 15:8: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

4- The heart is depicted  as the place where God dwells and works within believers. 

 Since the heart is at the core of our being: God wants our hearts to be infused with his word. He wants the word of the Lord to take up residence in our hearts so that we can live a life that bears the image of God. 

And speaking of God’s commands, the scripture requires us as fathers to
⁷  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 get up

 I like the word impress because it includes teaching, exploring, finding relevancy from the scripture to our own lived experience, drawing practical applications and much more. But besides talking about the scripture  as fathers we ought to  be that living bible. As fathers we are to be a living example of  the word of God in action. 

 Often there is a gap between what we say we believe and what we actually do—a disconnect between theory and practice. You know what I’m talking about: imagine this your teaching your kid “ thou shalt not lie” the phone rings and your tell the child to answer the phone, he tells you its the deacon from the church and you say - tell him I’m not home.  And children recognize this inconsistency and will reject the God we claim to serve as a result of watching  our inconsistencies.

My third scriptural witness comes from the  Old Testament book Judges. Judges 2:10  The passage comes with a reminder for us on this Father’s Day.  If we as fathers,   fail to tell our children the story of our faith journey, If we neglect to share the gospel story, if we neglect to share our healthy traditions, then future generations may experience a communal memory loss of the language of our faith. So Judges 2:10 reminds us of the need to 

3- Passing the Torch, Sharing our Faith with the Next Generation

Judges 2:10 (NIV)
¹⁰  After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.

No we don’t want this to happen, so we must tell them the story of our collective experience and development of our faith tradition. Tell them how God has delivered us out of the hand of slavery. That’s something I love about the Jewish tradition. Their calendar is marked throughout the year with important events from the Bible.  Share with your children and your children’s children  the language of our faith.  The bible stories, the hymns, the ordinances, the meaning of baptism, and the Lords supper, the birth , the life, the ministry, the death, burial, the resurrection and the coming back of Jesus. Be careful how you tell this story, tell it accurately and with love. We have have youth today that are abandoning the faith traditions of their parents –turning to a life of secularism where God is not that important because of how they have been introduced to God. Be careful of how we introduce our children to God in  the youthful days of their spiritual formation. 

Today is Fathers Day and we have  talked a lot about being a father, but let me tell you about our Heavenly Father. Let me take the time to connect you in this moment with the one who made you. 

He made you from the dust of the earth, created you in his image and likeness,  he breathed the breath of life into you, created you for his glory. He wants to walk with you, talk with you, provide for you, protect you.   But sin is always trying to separate us from the love of God. 

Sin deceitfully tries to keep us estranged from God. Sin tries to keep us ashamed of ourselves. 

But what I found out later on in life was that while we were dead in our sin, God came down to rescue us. What are you talking about preacher? A  baby was born, he was named Jesus. God loved us so much that he  sent his Son Jesus, to bring us back to his Father  once and for all. Not to condemn us, not to send us to hell, but to save us.  He came to rescue us, to liberate us from the powerful grips of sin. God is a just God and sin has to be and will be judged. The good news is that Jesus came to take the sin of the world upon him and take it to the cross. Jesus came to take our shame away and put us back into a right relationship with God. You can learn a great deal about someone by listening to their words. Fathers in the house, this is Father’s Day: listen to what God has said: 

Through the prophet Jeremiah 

. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

Through the Prophet Isaiah

I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

10 

So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Jeremiah 

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

4 

I will build you up again

These verses reflect God's assurance, love, and commitment to His people, offering encouragement and hope through these prophetic words.

Today I presented a question being: How can fathers, today live a life that aligns with God's wisdom and blessings?

1- God Blesses Our Being Different

- we noted that when the father of children aligns himself with God's wisdom and rejects the ways of the world, he sets a powerful example for his family and paves the way for a life filled with divine favor and guidance."

2- Loving God and Leading By Example The word of God becoming embedded or carried in our heart and impressing them upon our children. Remembering that that as we  are teaching our  children our words must be consistent with how we live our lives before them. 

3- Passing the Torch, Sharing our Faith with the Next Generation

We must tell the story of our faith journey, If we neglect to share the gospel story, if we neglect to share our healthy traditions, then future generations may experience a communal memory loss when it comes to  the language of our faith. 

Fathers let’s not let that happen on our watch. 

God bless you on this Father’s Day- Amen