Father's Day

Father’s Day

Ephesians 6:1-3, "1Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; 3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth."

A first-grade teacher asks her class what Father's Day was. One boy answered, "Father’s Day is just like Mother’s Day, only you don’t spend as much on the gift." Another boy responded, "What gift?" Mark Twain said, "When I was a boy of 14 my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to the 21, I was astonished at how much the old man learned in 7 years."

You all have heard a story like this: "Now that my father is a grandfather, he just can’t wait to give money to my kids. But when I was a kid and I asked him for 50 cents, he would tell me how when he was 7 years old, he got up at 4:30 in the morning to milk 90 cows with his tiny hands. He then walked 12 miles to school and so on. But now, every time he comes to my house, he tells my children, “Well, let’s see how much money old Granddad has for his wonderful grandkids."

I found an article entitled, "The World According to Dad." It lists the kinds of things dads often say.

- Why should you do that? Because I said so, that's why.

- Do you want me to call your mother?

- Wait till you have kids of your own. I hope one will be just like you.

- Last Father's Day, my son gave me something I always wanted: the keys to my car.

- The article makes some children’s observations. One reads, that if a mother is laughing at the father's jokes, it means we have guests.

Being a father can be a wonderful, interesting, and sometimes a trying experience. We are here today to remember what the Lord says about our earthly fathers and to honor them. I want us to think about some of the things for which we should say, "Thanks, Dads."

1- for material provision, Thanks Dad.

2- for faithful instruction, Thanks Dad.

3- for godly illustration, Thanks Dad.

Thanks for the provisions: I Tim. 5:8, "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." That is powerful. Families are families because they can depend on one another for help at any time or with any need. Today, we are specifically concentrating on the father’s duties. If a father does not provide materially for his family (food, clothing, shelter) then he has denied the faith of Christ and is worse than unbelievers. Why would such a father be worse than unbelievers would; because; even unbelievers provide for their families.

My dad passed away in May 1979. He only lived to be 59. Were he alive today he would be almost 106 years old. He grew up during the Depression. They had a roof over their head and enough to eat but not much more. He joined the Army in June of 1939 and came out in the summer of 1952. He went to school on the GI Bill and worked long hours trying to give us some of the things he never had. Our house was certainly nothing fancy but he made it our home. He raised his children to be hard-working, patriotic, and devoted Christians.

Did my father provide for me; I honestly do not remember missing out on anything. What about your dad? Did he provide for you? He probably did and you need to thank him for it if he is still alive or, at least, give thanks to God that he did.

Fathers instruct their children about many things thus giving children a set of values. My dad used to say to me, "You can accomplish anything you set your mind to." He would say, "Don’t be afraid to ask questions in school. You’ll never learn anything if you don’t ask questions." He said, "I don’t care if everybody’s doing it; if other kids stick their heads in a fire, would you do that?"

Fathers have given all kinds of instruction to their children about such things as school, work, relationships, dating, driving a car, and so forth. After his father passed away, a friend said, "More memorable than my household responsibilities were the endless streams of ’corrections’ which came my way. My father never stopped correcting me. Just a short while before he died, he looked at me from his hospital bed and said, ’Why don’t you get rid of that fat belly?’"