Being a Godly Father

In the Bible we are confronted with many poor examples of fathers. Examples can be found in I Kings 22:52; the men of Israel, Psalms 78:8, 78:59, and Jeremiah 9:14. These scriptures, along with many others, give glaring proof that there are bad fathers all around. In our days, the bad fathers are not hard to find. They are everywhere. However, finding that man who stands out as an example of what a good father ought to be is hard to track down. About 3,500 years ago God looked down on Abraham and declared him to be a good father. If a person will take the time to look at the life of Abraham, the reason for his glowing success becomes abundantly clear. Today, I am going to look at Abraham’s life and see God’s idea of what makes a great father. God saw Abraham as a great father and through his teaching to his son, Isaac, the lineage of Jesus came to be.

By way of introduction, let me say that we live in a day when we need good role models. It is getting hard for boys to find good Christian males who are worth looking up to. It seems that men have forgotten what it means to be men. Our society seems determined to blur things between the roles of men and those of women. We need some real men who are not afraid to be men!

There is no greater blessing than for a child to be surrounded by men who have God’s call upon their lives. I am not referring to a call for professional or vocational standing but to men who have heard God’s call to be men of the cross whether in the home or in the church. Men who are not afraid of their faith. Men who are not ashamed to announce to the world that they are children of God. I am convinced that every Christian man has a call of God on his life, especially to be a great father, teaching his children the ways of God.

I would like to leave this final story with you:

A man in Chicago made it a practice to stop in a bar for a drink or two on his way to work. One morning, as he was walking toward the bar, in the newly falling snow, he heard a small voice behind him saying, “Daddy, I’m coming in your footsteps.” It was the voice of his son as he tried to place his feet in his dad’s footprints in the snow. The man cried out to the Lord, “Oh God, if my boy is coming in my footsteps, by your help, I’ll head them in another direction.”

Maybe if I would have had a godly father in my life, when I found myself shot up in a Vietnam jungle, I would have known how to call on my Heavenly Father in my time of need. Thankfully my Heavenly Father brought me safely out so I could be the godly father needed for my own children. Thank you Lord.

Pastor Murl Hicks