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Sunday, June 21, 2009

Don't Lose It Dad!

Today is Father's Day. This is a day set aside to honor fathers. Since I am one, and I have one. It is a good day for me. For whatever reason, somehow Father's Day doesn't seem quite as important as Mother's Day, and it may only be a marketing ploy to sell more greeting cards, but I would like to address those of us who are fathers. This is a very important time to be a father. The children born between 1976 and 1996 represent one fourth of America's population. This generation is called "The Millennial Generation" or "The Bridger Generation" because they are the bridge to the new millennium. For at least the next half-century, they will be the most influential people in the world. If you are a dad, some of them probably live in your house; but maybe not, because many Bridgers/Millennials do not live with their fathers. At any given time, nearly one-third of all children 18 and under do not live in the same home with their fathers, and less than half spend their entire childhood with both of their parents.

As I approach this day today, I asked myself: What is a father anyway? What is he supposed to do? How is he to instruct? What is he to instruct? So, as I sit here early on this Sunday morning typing this out, I think I came up with a logical and Biblical conclusion. Fathers are supposed to provide for the material needs of their families. They are supposed to teach the difference between right and wrong, and to show what it means to be gentle as well as strong. Fathers, more than anyone else, teach their sons what it means to be men and their daughters what it means to be women.

Today, more than ever before, children are being raised in a world without absolutes. Although they have some interest in spiritual things, they have little or no interest in organized religion. They have been trained to be suspicious of anyone who claims to know the truth. Listen to these sobering statistics, while 60% of their grandparents, 40% of their parents, and even 25% of their older siblings claim to be Christians, only 4% of the Millennial generation will profess faith in Jesus Christ. Why is this happening?

I fear that a lot of times people have no idea what it is that they have until they have lost it. We have been blessed of the Lord and yet we take it for granted. It is a sad and tragic truth that many a husband has taken his wife for granted only to find out he no longer had her as a wife. Then it was too late. It is a sad and tragic truth that many parents have taken their children for granted; only to discover their kids no longer want to see them. It is a sad and tragic truth that many children took for granted the love of a mom and a dad only to realize their great loss when they went on out into eternity.

Four things that I believe need to be understood about our families:

· Don’t take what God has given you for granted.
· Don’t treat what God has given you poorly.
· Be appreciative & thankful for them.
· Protect them.

It really has become a trite statement; however, that does not make it any less true: “you don’t realize what you have until it is not there.” It was not until I moved out of the house before I realized that my parents were not as ignorant as I perceived them to be!

I had no idea that my parents actually had some wisdom behind all those rules and regulations. In many respects, I did not know what I had until I lost it. This point has been proven true countless other times when it has come to other relationships, jobs, material possessions, and various other situations in life.

As my mind wanders this morning, I began thinking about people in the Bible that had things and lost it:

1. In Genesis 12, we find that Lot lost his family because he let his greed overrule his duty to protect his family. Most of his family was destroyed and his wife was turned into a pillar of salt. What a sad account it is for this man who took his family too lightly and as a result, he lost them all.

2. In Psalm 51, we find that David lost his joy because he indulged his fleshly desire over God’s desire. We see him in this chapter begging for Christ to restore his joy.

3. In Matthew 26, we find that Peter lost his reputation because he cared what others thought of him when he denied ever knowing Christ. Scripture records that he wept bitterly when he realized that he had destroyed his reputation.

4. In Luke 12, we find the worst loss of all; here a man loses his own soul. In this passage, we see a rich man with all the wealth he could possibly want, yet he did not make provision for his eternity.

However this blog may find you, I wonder, are you being a good steward of all that God has given you? I mainly wrote this with the subject of fathers in mind; however, this applies to us all. Don’t lose your family (or whatever those things that you hold precious to you) because of greed, fleshly desire, caring about other’s opinions, and by avoiding Christ in your life.

Second John tells us that we should "Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward." So, with that in mind, look at yourself today. Are you being a good steward? I dare say, we can all improve on this area of our lives. How will you improve today? This week? This month? This year? A failure to plan is a plan destined for failure. Fathers, value your family and don’t lose it!

Happy Father’s Day!

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