Oh Friends, here’s wishing a Happy Father’s Day to all Fathers out there, even the ‘deadbeat’ ones! Yes my people, even to those who don’t deserve the name, because Jesus said we should forgive in general, and our own forgiveness, depends on how much we forgive others. True, not all of us are deadbeat dads, but there are still too many who fall unfortunately into that category. And though some of them are just downright doh-care and irresponsible, some genuinely don’t know any better because they didn’t have the proper example set for them either. There possibly were no fathers in their lives, or those that were there didn’t know the importance of a strong, wise, godly father. Unfortunately again, it’s the kind of behaviour or attitude that can easily be passed down from generation to generation. Anyway, here are some qualities, attributes, guidelines that a real and true father ought to portray. I got these from a newsletter published by Real Estate Agent, Gary Sullivan. Thanks Gary. And it says: ‘A Father is neither an anchor to hold us back, nor a sail to take us there, but a guiding light whose LOVE shows us the way. A Father is someone you look up to no matter how tall you grow. A Father is a truly rich man if his children run into his arms when his hands are empty. A Father is a man who expects his son to be as good a man as he meant to be. A Father is someone who carries pictures in his wallet where his money used to be.’ Wow! What a solid foundation builder is the man who falls into all those categories, who genuinely shows his children the right way to walk in this cruel, evil, violent and greedy world; and that’s with God! The question though is how many of us fathers actually do those things, or reflect a godly and worthwhile lifestyle for our children to follow? For remember, actions usually speak louder than words. Sadly, I suspect that the percentage is way too low, and that’s partly why we have such misguided, unruly, ungodly children in this new generation. Oh Fathers, we are supposed to be the backbone, the guiding light of the family, society’s bread and butter unit. We’re supposed to have wisdom, to both teach and show it in our own lives to our children. Our job as parents is to raise our children properly. But if we lack that wisdom, or refuse to share it, our progeny will undoubtedly suffer, and oftimes the damage is irreparable. We must be able to say like Cousin Sol: ‘Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.’ Granted we are moving away from the die-hard patriarchal society that we once were, but the father in the home is still considered the force behind the family, the one who makes the most important decisions. So if we’re not well grounded in the good, healthy ways of life, we obviously can’t share them with our young as we should. Oh Father’s, this new generation is in great danger of being called the ‘Lost Generation,’ and a lot of the blame lies squarely on our shoulders. We were either too busy doing other things, that includes making a living to support them, and therefore were not around when needed. On the other hand, if we were around, we didn’t pay enough attention and/or sent out the wrong signals; being abusive instead of supportive, allowing the fleshly lusts of the world to colour our lives rather than the spiritual things that lead to godliness. Yes my Friends, as we said yesterday, too many of us have forsaken the spiritual exercises necessary for our souls to prosper, so that we can walk and guide aright. Oh Fathers, and Mothers too, instead of allowing our young free reign in this ungodly world, we should be saying instead like Bruh David did: ‘Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear (reverence) of the Lord.’ (Ps.34:11) It’s the only way to train and raise children properly. And parents, ignorance is no excuse, for two or more persons living together can only function well if there’s fairness and understanding present. So even if we don’t have much book-learning, as the old people would say, we have common sense and we can teach that to our young, for in many cases it works better than formal education. But even what we term common sense seems to be disappearing from our society, which is another story for another day. I also won’t touch the touchy subject of the young men who think they’re such studs, God’s gift to women, and take pleasure in going around impregnating the less than sensible young women, then not supporting the resultant children, but yet thinking they’re so great, such macho men, when in fact they’re low-life scum. Oh Friends, that’s a sore point with me because I’ve seen it happen so much over the years, and it’s always the poor children who suffer. I got into it last year and it took me two days to have my say, so I promised myself to leave it alone this year, because it’s still out there, front and centre, and probably getting worse as the morals, sense of responsibility and common sense of our youth continue to deteriorate. Anyway Father’s, both young and old, it’s time for us to sit down and take full stock of ourselves. It’s definitely not too late. We might not be able to correct some of our mistakes, but let’s apologize for them all, and try to correct those we can. If we don’t, then we’re only doing a further disservice to future generations. And we’ll end with a perfect example of father teaching son. Cousin Sol declares: ‘For I was my father’s son…He taught me also, and said unto me…’ (Prov.43-4) Now here are Bruh David’s words to him. ‘And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.’ (1 Chr.28:9) Oh Friends, what better groundings can a child receive from his father eh! Let’s try and do likewise for our children nuh. Much LOVE!…train up a child in the way he should go…and (even) when he is old… he won’t depart from it…(Prov.22:6)
SCRIP-BITS 