James Hewett tells of a particular foggy night traveling with his parents. "When I was a small boy growing up in Pennsylvania we would often visit my grandparents who lived nine miles away. One night a thick fog settled over the hilly countryside before we started home. I remember being terrified, and asking if we shouldn't be going even slower than we were. Mother said gently, 'Don't worry. Your father knows the way.'"

 

Fathers, what about you? Do you know the way? And are you leading your family in that way? Do your children see a man who is leading them to heaven? Do they see a man who reads his Bible and tries to live by its teachings? Do they hear a man who prays to his God? Do they see a man who works hard at his job to provide for his family but is not so glued to his job that he neglects his family? Do they see a man that will do more than just send the kids to church with mom but take his family there himself? Do they see a man who is loving their mother "as Christ also loves the church" (Ephesians 5:25)? A lofty standard to be sure, but one well worth striving for. Do your children see a man that is humble enough to admit his own mistakes and failures, yet man enough to truly resolve to do better? Do they see a man who will take the time to teach them about faith in God and right from wrong. The Bible says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). The apostle Paul writes, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Some parents act as if they are doing something noble when they say things like, “I’ll just let them to make their own decisions when they grow up".  Can you imagine taking such a careless approach to other areas of their welfare such as their health and safety? Neglect or abuse your child physically and you can have them taken away from you. Neglect or abuse your child spiritually and you can cause his or her soul to be eternally lost.

 

Being a good father is not a job for sissies. I guess that's one reason a lot skip out on it. There is no skill or virtue in siring a child. Many of the societal ills we suffer from today are at least partly due to “men” who have bailed out. But being a father calls for a man that will lead his family in the godly way. It calls for a man that will stand in the gap when dangers threaten. It calls for a man that will love and be true to his wife. It calls for a man that will be kind to his kids. It calls for a man that is part of their lives and is there for them. It calls for a man—a real man who knows that he’s going to heaven and he will do everything within his power to lead his family their too. Not all good men are fathers. But all good fathers are good men.

 

And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father…had done. (2 Kings 15:34)

 

God bless you,

Brad Fry