(Genesis 18:18-19/ KJV) says, “Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”
There is a lot of pressure placed on fathers to fulfill their responsibilities. As a father we are responsible to provide for our families: food, shelter, clothing, education, etc. We are responsible for the protection of our families. But probably the most important responsibility that is also the most underestimated responsibility we have as fathers is to simply LEAD! God has entrusted us as Fathers to LEAD our families and in these last days, if we’ve ever needed Godly leaders, it’s TODAY!
Thankfully, the Bible gives us a few examples of the kind of Father that God desires us to be. Here are three men who were not just great leaders, they were Godly Fathers who lead their families in the right direction. These Fathers include:
1). Joshua – (Joshua 24:15/ KJV) says, “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua was telling them I can’t change what the fathers did before me, and I can’t make any of you fathers make the right choices for your family today. Every Father has to decide whether he will lead his family in the “fear of the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth!” Every Father has to choose which God he’s going to point his family toward. Joshua was simply declaring what every other Godly Father had proclaimed before him, “as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
It might not always be popular. It might not always be easy. But doing the RIGHT THING will always be RIGHT! The bottom line for every Father here today to realize is we ARE RESPONSIBLE for OUR FAMILY, and it’s URGENT that we ACT RESPONSIBLE!
I can’t make “the choice” for my next door neighbor. I can’t make the choice for anybody else’s HOUSE but my own. So, I’ve decided to join the Godly Fathers who’ve paved the way before me and make the declaration today, that “as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
2). Noah— (Genesis 7:1, 4-5, 7, 23/ KJV) says, “And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation…4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. 5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him…7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood…23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.”
COMPROMISING would have been so much EASIER for Noah, but it would have ultimately killed his whole family! Noah did what was RIGHT and because Noah built the Ark exactly how God had commanded, he was able to SAVE his family! Don’t you know when the Door of the Ark shut and Noah looked around to see his family SAVED, he realized then that EVERY SACRIFICE, EVERY CONVICTION, EVERYTHING he’d gone through to get right there, was worth it…because though he couldn’t SAVE EVERYBODY, he SAVED HIS FAMILY!
Fathers, our children may NOT like everything we ask them to do! They might NOT understand YET, every conviction we hold on to; every line we draw, every boundary we put in place. They might NOT like some of the SACRIFICES we make, or STANDARDS we live by. They might NOT understand why we make some of the CONSECRATIONS we make unto God. But I guarantee, when the FLOOD COMES and it’s going to come, and they’re on the ARK—SAVED…EVERY SACRIFICE, EVERY CONSECRATION, EVERY SERVICE you made them get ready for, EVERY PRAYER MEETING you dragged them to, EVERY Wednesday Night BIBLE STUDY you brought them to, EVERY STANDARD you made them live by will be worth it!
3). Abraham — (Genesis 18:18-19/ KJV) says, “Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”
The whole reason why God could make such a Covenant with Abraham was because He could TRUST Abraham! God knew that Abraham would LEAD his family after God! The reason WHY God would make the Covenant with Abraham that he would “become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him,” is found in (verse 19) where it says, “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD...”
So, the question that’s been running through my mind for the last day or two is can God trust me like he did Abraham and Noah? If I were to have been alive in that day, could God have TRUSTED ME with that much responsibility?
Thank God for Godly Fathers who will make the tough decisions, who will earnestly contend for the Faith, who will refuse to compromise, who will hold the standard, who will defend the Truth, who will be the example to his Family in PRAYER, in WORSHIP, in GIVING, in SERVICE, in SUBMISSION, in OBEDIENCE, and in FAITHFULNESS to God!
Will you be a modern day Joshua will boldly declare that “as for ME and MY HOUSE, we WILL serve the Lord?” Will you be a modern Noah who will do exactly as the Lord has commanded, and SAVE YOUR FAMILY? Will you be a modern Abraham that the Lord can make a Covenant of Blessing with, simply because he “knows” that YOU WILL LEAD YOUR FAMILY in the right direction?
No comments:
Post a Comment