Filling A Father's Shoes

JOB 1:1-8 "FILLING A FATHER’S SHOES"

A) If you were asked to name the world’s hardest job, what would you say it is?

* Serving as president of the U.S.? * Heading up the United Nations?

* Serving Jesus Christ somewhere as a missionary or as a pastor?

B) Each of those choices could be defended!

* But I believe that an even harder job than any of those is being a good parent!

* And today I’m thinking especially of the work of the father!

C) I want to tell you why a father’s job tops nearly every other!

* And if you are a father, I want to suggest some insight into what your job is & how you can

do it better!

D) A father must make decisions - right decisions!

* And he dare not make them in a state of confusion or panic!

E) A father, like a person steering a canoe, must always be ahead of upcoming situations!

* The effective father must look down river in the life of his family,

* Preparing to make good decisions! * His job is to keep his family dry!

F) You can be a good father, but faith and good intentions are not enough!

* Even a godly man can be a failure as a father!

* Samuel, David, and Aaron are some men in the Bible who show that is true!

G) The Bible, in fact, tells of many who failed in their tasks as fathers!

* Isaac was partial to Esau! * You cannot read of his home life without sensing that he failed

in raising his sons!

H) Jacob in turn was a failure! * Gen.34 tells of a crisis in his family in which he failed to

act at all! * As a result, an entire community perished!

I) Eli failed to guide his sons into a walk with God!

* And his house came tumbling down around his ears!

J) Solomon’s son was weak & foolish - a living reminder that even the wisest of men was a

failure as a father!

* The question of the failure of so many fathers in the Bible is a troubling one!

K) Why did they fail? * And how can we fathers today avoid the same kind of failure?

* Consider with me three important questions about fatherhood!

(1) WHAT IS A FATHER? * A father is a parent, a partner in transmitting human life!

* He is a protector and a provider! * He is also a teacher sharing knowledge and instruction

about living in our world!

A) Being an effective father is a staggering responsibility!

* It’s one thing to guide your own footsteps, but it’s quite another to guide someone else’s.

B) Many fail as fathers simply because they underestimate their task!

* The rate of failure among fathers may well be higher than that of any occupation!

C) No other calling is as demanding than a father!

* A father must transmit to his children God’s basic revelation, that we are God’s creatures,

* Accountable to Him in all we are and do! * He is the source of right & justice in the home!

D) He must be a leader, provider, teacher and counselor!

* Examine the role of the father closely and you begin to see a tiny likeness to God’s own role

with reference to the human race, as God loves, rules & provides for all creation!

* So the human father is to nourish, protect & guide his little family!

E) David clearly perceived that likeness when he wrote in Psalm 103:13,

* "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him."

* That word "pitieth" means - to love, to have compassion on.

F) So a father must use his position to minister to his family’s needs!

* He is their protector and provider! * They are guarded by his love!

* As the one in authority over your family, as the one responsible to provide for them and

protect them, you are God’s representative to them!

G) That, of course, is not to say that God does not deal directly with them - He does!

* But in many ways, God deals with those in your family through you, through your authority,

through your example and through your leadership!

* Thus, the child who has a faithful, godly father learns what God Himself is like as he sees

the father in the home!

H) Fathers, your children will base their concept of God on what they see in you!

* What I am saying is that you should develop the kind of relationship with your children that

you wish them to have with God!

(2) WHY IS A FATHER? * Why does a family need a father? * What is the father to do?