"Fathers Worth Following"
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Intro:
Happy Father’s Day!
The Bible lists several dads who were the kind of fathers whose examples are worth following. I have chosen four fantastic fathers in the Bible who got the attention of heaven. On one hand what they did was spectacular. On the other hand they only did what is expected of every dad.
That’s the wonderful thing about being a parent, even the common, ordinary things we do can have a tremendous impact. Going to work 5 days a week. Coming home every night. Coming home sober every night. Bringing the paycheck home to support the family. Being faithful to your wife. Being a moderate provider and a shelter from harm and evil. Throwing a ball. Sipping tea from a plastic cup. Pushing a bicycle with no training wheels. Saying "no." Saying "yes." Those things are so simple anyone can do them. But what makes them grand is not everyone has the fortitude to actually do them.
The men we will consider as follow-worthy fathers are: Noah, Abraham, Job and Joshua. These four guys are household names. Most of us know their stories. They’re famous Bible characters. They are super-heroes of the faith. Yet each of them did something which today’s dad can easily duplicate.
Noah - saved the race, by saving his family Gen. 6:5-10 (esp. 7-8)
When the world was falling apart one father went about life in such a way as to find favor with God in heaven. Every thought and every deed of every man was wicked. God planned to wipe mankind . . . from the face of the earth. . . . Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD because he was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Because he dared to be different rather than cowering to the spiritual climate of his peers, God saw a redeeming quality in the people He had created.
What a thought, to consider that one man living right in wicked world could get God’s attention. When the Lord looked at the world he saw a dismal picture. But when He saw Noah, He must have sat a little straighter in His throne. A smile must have formed on His face. And in that moment, as He considered Noah, God devised a redemptive plan. He decided on a way to save the one man who did what was right - and his family.
The world over "dad" is known to stand for a cause he believes in, even when that stand puts him in the minority.
Dads, it doesn’t matter what the rest of the world is doing, live right and you will secure the honor of your family. Your integrity may spare your family from the judgement of God. In fact, the way one man lives sometimes alters the course of world events.
Abraham - would command (instruct) his children Gen. 18:19 NIV, KJV, AS, LB
The Lord chose to set a nation apart in order to begin the process of redeeming the world through His mercy to that nation. To raise up that nation He chose a man who would lead his children in the way God wanted him to. He used Abraham as the founder of the nation.
When Abraham chose to live by faith he carved a path in the wilderness. As he stepped out to follow the will of God he demonstrated how to follow the Lord for his family. He taught them to keep the ways of the Lord by obeying His call.
I can imagine someone saying, "Yeah but Abraham had visions and revelations, I haven’t had any of those things." No, but we have 66 books full of visions and revelations waiting for us to receive. There is no need for the Lord to give us new revelations until we live by the old ones we already have.
Following God is a mystical experience, but it is also a practical experience. Abraham left everything that was familiar to him in order to inherit promises that were entirely unfamiliar to him. "Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you..." (Gen. 12:1) That’s pretty mystical. But haven’t we been called to the same sort of mysticism? Aren’t we on a journey to a land we’ve never seen? The practical part is getting up every morning and packing your things for that day’s trip. Abraham got up and started walking. "How will I know when I get there?" "I’ll tell you when you get there." "Alright. Are we there yet?" It’s the same for us. We get up every morning and do the things we know to do until the Lord tells us we’ve arrived.
Teaching our children the ways of the Lord can be as simple as answering the question "Are we there yet?" "We’ll know when we get there."
Job - prayed for his children Job 1:1-5 esp. 5
Job got God’s attention. Not because he was the richest man around, but because he was blameless and because as a father he faithfully prayed for his children. Job’s faithfulness in this responsibility has always impressed me. He prayed for his children just in case any of them had sinned. He didn’t wait for a neighbor to report he had seen one of his children doing wrong. He knew the weakness of human nature. He prayed for them "whether they needed it or not." It was Job’s burden and prayer that his kids always honor God which gave the Lord such confidence in him.
There’s not a dad in the world who can’t adopt this habit of intercession for the hearts of his family members. Every one of us can pray.
- Every morning when we wake up we can take our family before the throne of God in prayer. - Every night before we go to bed we can call our children by name. - And all through the day, as they come to mind, we can breathe a prayer on their behalf. - Pray for them on special occasions. Tests. Games. Jobs. Dates. (Like I had to tell you that! ) Weddings. Babies. On and on...
Our children will never outgrow our prayers, or the need for our prayers. Job’s children were all grown and on their own. But he never stopped the custom he developed when they were young.
We don’t have to be super-heroes to pray for our families. But if we do pray for them, they may never know we aren’t.
Joshua - chose the Lord for his family Josh. 24:14-16 esp. 15
When Israel was about to enter her third generation of leadership, Joshua set the example for every home in the nation. Not only that, he also set the tone for every father who would follow after him. When we leave this world our greatest legacy is the one which shows the direction we left. The most important thing we can do in our death is to is to let those we leave know where we are going - where you stand with the Lord.
How many funerals have you attended and had someone come to you with these words, "I believe he made his peace with the Lord." and you can tell by the way they say it they are hoping for a confirmation from you? They don’t know, they’re just hoping the departed loved one in question made peace with God in his final moments. What a sad way to leave those you love - wondering where you will spend eternity.
When Joshua laid down the baton of leadership, he made clear the direction he wanted the nation to pursue. I realize we cannot impose our faith and standard of conduct on the next generation once we are gone, but we can let them know our dreams and faith while we are here. Joshua as much as told Israel, "I don’t know what you will do when I’m not here. But this is what hope you will do." (GB)
What made Joshua a great father to follow was his determination that he and his family would follow the Lord.
Close:
Four famous fathers. Men who loved their families and served the Lord.
- Noah who lived different from the people around him.
- Abraham who instructed his family in the ways of the Lord.
- Job who prayed for his family, that their hearts would stay pure.
- Joshua who chose the Lord to be Lord of his home.
They have been famous on earth and they will be famous in heaven. They set their families on a godly path leading by example. They left footprints worth following. They did simple things we all can do. They did right when it would have been easier, even acceptable to do wrong. They left the familiar and broke away from the crowd. They prayed faithfully for their children. And they chose the Lord as God of their life and let everyone know it.
You can do those things. Start with choosing the Lord. Then live for God and let everyone know it. You can make a world of difference.
