Faithful Father

Faithful Fathers

God said: "And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:.6).

God finishes the Old Testament by talking about fathers and their families. Malachi 4:6 is the last verse in the last chapter of the last book in the Old Testament. Now, for 400 years God was absolutely silent. Israel was in the middle of a crisis. It was not a financial crisis, but a fathering crisis. What God said to Israel then, God says to us now. Both your problems and your solutions lay at the feet of faithful fathers.

We are living in a world in which real heroes are scarce. So our young people settle for substitute heroes such as movie stars, athletes, pop singers, and social media influencers. Once, a teacher asked her third graders to write about their personal heroes. One little boy brought his essay home and showed it to his parents. His father looked at the paper and tears formed in his eyes. His son had chosen him. He said, "Son, why did you pick me?" The little boy said, "Because I couldn't spell Arnold Schwarzenegger."

Every dad should try to be the hero to his children. I am talking about all the dads because God makes it clear from the beginning of the Scriptures that He holds the father responsible for decisions in the family, and for the destiny of the family. Remember as we mediated last week. The father is the first born of the family and is responsible for carrying the entire weight of the family.

We have a tremendous problem in homes today, and a great part of that problem must be laid at the feet of fathers who have forgotten their place of responsibility to be the spiritual leader in that home. How many fathers here rely on their wives to lead their family spiritually and in prayer? That is your responsibility. Fathers must lead their family and children in the ways of God.

An old Chinese proverb states: "It is harder to lead a family than to rule a nation." If we do not have godly fathers living godly lives, building godly homes, and raising godly children, the nation will fall apart. And this is what happened to the people of Israel, and this is what is happening now in our modern era. I want to meditate with you on the instructions that God gives to dads to help them to be faithful fathers who will fortify their families from sin.

I. Invite Your Children to Receive the Lord

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!" (Deuteronomy 6:4) This is the core of what every dad should teach every child. Fathers, our number one responsibility is to see to it that your children establish a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Socrates once said: "Could I climb the highest place in Athens, I would lift my voice and proclaim: ‘Fellow citizens, why do you turn and scrap every stone to gather wealth, and take so little care of your children to whom one day you must relinquish it all?'"

What good does it do to raise your child in the finest home; to give your child the finest education; to make sure they gets the finest job; to help them marry the finest spouse; to help them have the finest career; to help them reach the finest position in life; and then watch them rise in the judgment to meet a God they do not know?

I tell you, if you are a father, your most important reason for living is to teach the gospel and living word to your children.

II. Inspire Your Children to Revere the Lord

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might." (Deuteronomy 6:5) We are to teach our kids to love God. There is a special kind of love that God desires, God deserves, and God demands.

We are to love the Lord "with all of our heart." Nothing breaks the heart of God more than the sin of a half-hearted love. Husbands, a half-hearted love will not make your wife happy. Parents, a half-hearted love will not make your children happy. Christians, a half-hearted love will not make God happy. We are to love the Lord faithfully—"with all of our soul." We are to love the Lord firmly—"with all of our strength."

A preacher once asked a group of kids in a Sunday class: "Why do you love God?" He got a variety of answers, but the one that he liked best came from a little boy who said, "I don't know why I love God, pastor, I guess it just runs in my family."