[Faith-talk] Daily Thought for Thursday, June 12, 2014

[Paul]

Hello and good day to you all.  Hope your Thursday is going well or, if it be a Friday morning where you live, that hopefully you're having a good Friday, by God's matchless grace and His providential care.

Here is an article which was posted at about this time last year, but remember that there are some people who haven't read it before.  This piece was written by Ruth Andrews and is simply entitled "Fathers," rendered as follows:

When thinking of fathers in the Bible, Abraham comes to mind.  He would become the father of Isaac and the father of a nation.  He was also subject to the heavenly Father.

Genesis 18:19 reads, "That he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him."

Abraham was given a place of great authority.  This role brought with it great responsibility.

God entrusts fathers with a special place and job as heads of their homes today.  A father loves his children and cares about what concerns them, just as our heavenly Father does us.  Sometimes fathers must correct their children.  Proverbs 3:12 says that even though a father delights in his children, he will discipline them when they need it.

Fathers will teach their children, being sure they are well brought up.  Ephesians 6:4 says to bring them up in "the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Teaching the ways of God from His Word in the home should not be neglected.

By word and action fathers teach self-control (cf. 1 Tim. 3:12).  A father should set an example of faith in God and be a man of prayer.  In Judges 13, Manoah and his wife were promised a child.  Feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of being a parent, Manoah prayed for guidance (v8).  God provided what Manoah asked.

We know many fathers who are wise, loving and kind toward their children.  "The just man walketh in his integrity:  his children are blessed after him" (Prov. 20:7).

Perhaps you had a father who was a negative influence or you had no father in your home growing up.  You still have the heavenly Father.

Second Corinthians 6:17-18 says God is Father to us.  We can talk to our Father in prayer, for Jesus gave the example in Matthew 6:9, "Our Father which art in heaven."

Fathers (and mothers) should be examples of prayer to God the Father.  God knows our concerns and gives wise counsel when we ask (cf. Jas. 1:5).

Fathers have been given an enormous role to fill, and not one to be taken lightly.

I hope that Ruth's article was a blessing to you, especially to you who are dads.  There will be other articles on the subject of fathers in the forthcoming Daily Thought messages.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Lord willing, tomorrow there will be another Daily Thought message for you.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul