Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Well, Father’s Day is upon us once again. I was blessed to be able to spend the last several days with my parents in Pennsylvania and celebrate Father’s Day with my Dad a few days early. I also was in my hometown to participate in my 30 year high school reunion. It was these two events that collided and began to conjure up memories in me…memories of times past when I was home and under the nurture and mentorship of my father and mother.
The day after Grace and I arrived in Pennsylvania, we went to a baseball game in Pittsburgh to watch the Pirates play the Nationals. As I drove down to the game with my father sitting next to me, I couldn’t help but reminisce about my younger days when he would drive me to games…first at Forbes Field and then to Three Rivers Stadium. It was always great to watch the games and listen to Dad not only teach me the basic intricacies of the game but also tell me about the games he used to go to when he was my age. Oh how I cherish those memories.
I also cherish the memories of a father who taught me the importance of hard work and an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay (my mother did as well…smile). I cherish a father who wouldn’t hesitate to correct me when I needed it, especially if I would become disrespectful either to him of my mom. I cherish a father who would bend over backwards to help anyone in need…a father who was a cheerful giver. And I cherish a father who never ceased to love me…a father who has bragged about me as I have become an adult and embodied much of what he was…and even more. I only pray my own daughters cherish me half as much as I do my own father.
Today, as I drove first from Pennsylvania to Virginia Beach and then turned around and drove from Virginia Beach to my rental in MD in advance of my two week trip to Japan (leave tomorrow AM), I had a lot of time to think about my dad and my own experience as a father. And as I thought about it, I was drawn to one conclusion: we both knew how to be blessed fathers because of our Divine Blessed Father in Heaven. It was because He first Fathered us that we could ever father the children He entrusted to our care.
Indeed, our (my father and my) Heavenly Father is the Father of us all. No one is void of the greatest Father known. We are all His children and thus no one is fatherless. For I understand that not everyone has a great testimony to tell about their worldly father. Many dads have shirked the responsibility placed upon them by the Lord. But this doesn’t mean that one is without a Father. We only need turn to the heavens and find the Father who will never leave us nor forsake us…the Father who will never cease to love us. Truly, how great is the love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called children of God! Friends, is this not good news for us all…not just on Father’s Day but on every day.
For when we recognize and acknowledge our Father in Heaven as being our one true Father, every day becomes a celebration of Him and what He has done for us, what He is presently doing for us and what He is yet to do for us. Every day becomes a day of praise and rejoicing…another day that He has blessed us with so we only need to be glad in it.
So as we go through each day of life, let us take a moment to pause and thank our Father for His goodness, grace, mercy and love. For every day should be Father’s Day because our Father gives us each day we live. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
http://www.faithhopeandlove.info/
Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com
No comments:
Post a Comment