Dear Friends and Family,
I hope and pray all of you have a wonderful Father’s Day. As a father of two little ones with a third on-the-way, I’m so thankful for the desire God has placed in the hearts of my kiddos to simply LOVE church. It brings great joy to hear them say things like, “I learned about Moses today… he followed God and so do I, ” and “Papa, I learned a new song about how much God loves me!” and recently, “I want to be in the big church! I want to sing the songs!”
When I was just a wee bit taller than a grasshopper, I learned to love God and His people from my father, Charles.
I will never forget…
…how he taught me to sing by running his index finger along the soprano and tenor lines in the hymnal.
…how he guided me to listen attentively to the preacher by taking notes and sitting up straight.
…how he modeled faithfulness by being consistent in daily devotions, prayer, and love.
…how he showed me respect and reverence for God by submitting to truth and leading in repentance.
My Dad and me, about 1985 or 1986.
You know what? I think I might just share these thoughts with my dad this weekend, in order to honor him as God has commanded. Both in Exodus 20:12 and Ephesians 6:2, we find these key instructions:
“Honor your father and your mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.” (from Ephesians)
So how, perhaps, did you learn from you father? How did he guide you in truth and wisdom? Let’s take a moment to praise God for our fathers and if they’re still with us, let’s take time to look them in the eyes and tell them just how they made the difference in our lives.
By the way, I’m not at all excited about my chocolate cake. 🙂
In Christ Alone,
