Let's Hear it for the Fathers; First Thessalonians

May the mumbling commence!

Happy Father’s Day!  Let us be thankful for our earthly fathers who are faithful.  When our earthly fathers fail (and they all do at one time or another), we have our heavenly Father to be thankful.

I give thanks for my dad.  I give thanks for his obvious care for me and my family.  I give thanks for his steadfast love of my mother.  He is a remarkable gift to me – one straight from heaven.

I also give thanks for my heavenly Father.  I give thanks for His love and His patience with me.  I give thanks for the loving Father who both welcomed back a straying son and cared for a son who remained faithful.

Our God is heaven is an example for all earthly fathers to emulate.  I hope that I pass that test as I seek to be a godly father for my son Micah.  We read about that example from First Thessalonians chapter two (from Peterson’s The Message paraphrase):

You remember us in those days, friends, working our fingers to the bone, up half the night, moonlighting so you wouldn’t have the burden of supporting us while we proclaimed God’s Message to you.  You saw with you own eyes how discreet and courteous we were among you, with keen sensitivity to you as fellow believers.  And God knows we weren’t freeloaders!  You experienced it all firsthand.  With each of you we were like a father with his child, holding your hand, whispering encouragement, showing you step by step how to live well before God, who called us into his own kingdom, into his delightful life.  (Verses 10-12)  

My father worked hard to support his wife and eight children.  I saw it.  May I work as hard to support my wife and my son as we seek to do God’s will here in Hutchinson, Kansas.

God, please guide me in my upbringing of Micah.  May I seek always to hold his hand – through the good times and the bad.  May I whisper encouragements into his ear as he grows into the man that you created him to be.  May I use Your Word to show him the step-by-step instructions for living well before God.

If I can accomplish these things, our lives as a family will be a delightful thing indeed.  God, be at the center of our family life.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out