“Top 10 Reasons Why Being a Dad is…the Coolest Job on Earth”
Today I want to share Top 10 Reasons Why Being a Dad is the “Coolest Job on Earth”. There s no perfect father except for our Father in Heaven. So, looking at His character/attributes we can learn how to be a good father. Even though this may be directly geared to Dads…I know we can all learn from these lessons. REASON #10 WE GET TO GIVE OUR NAME TO OUR CHILDREN… I recognize this may sound rather patristic, patriarchal or even sexist in this day and age. Hear me out! George Foreman…famous for many things: boxing champion, grill, celebrity, born again Christian, author on fatherhood, also a pastor and evangelist and, believe it or not…he has 12 children five boys and seven girls…and he named all five of his sons, George. When asked why he gave all his sons the same name, he usually quips something like, “If you’d been hit in the head as many times as me, you’d make life as simple as possible.” But if pressed for a serious answer, one of his answers is: “I named my kids George because I want all of them to remember who their daddy is.” This is coming from a man who had an absentee father. And his greatest passion is to be a father to the fatherless, having adopted two as well.
So everything we do reflects on the family name. The family name is important, we represent our Father in Heaven, but we also represent our earthly father and family. And in the same way we need to make sure our children know who their father is…Every thing we do reflects our family whether good or bad, reflected back on everyone in their family, just because they had a last name. Give your children a good name and teach them the responsibility of keeping it good. REASON #9 WE GET TO GIVE OUR PRESENCE TO OUR CHILDREN… All the way from Genesis through to Revelation one of the overarching themes of the Scriptures is the presence of God in our life. From the Garden of Eden, God was with His children…He pursued them, He loved them so much He went with them, He demonstrated His presence in their lives in many different forms, time and time again. “I will never leave you nor forsake you….I will be with you to the end of the age…Revelation 21:3 “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, God Himself will, be with them and be their God.” Here is the perfect example of our Heavenly Father showing us that time spent with our children is a feature of fatherhood that is often neglected...and is probably one of the most important. REASON #8 WE GET TO MAKE OUR HOME A SAFE HAVEN… Look at Revelation 21:4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall been more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
REASON #7 WE GET TO BUILD INTO OUR CHILDREN’S CHARACTER… Isn’t it amazing that God knows our failures…but He does not focus on them. We often quote Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..” The Good News is really found in the next v.24 “…being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
As parents we need to be a never ending source supplying our children with GRACE…and the message of what they can do and who they can be as long as they keep their priorities in the proper order. There is no shame in needing help, no shame in needing to learn, no shame in needing grace. REASON #6 WE GET TO SHOW OUR CHILDREN PARENTAL LOVE AND CONCERN… Just think of how many times God showed His children concern? Genesis…Adam where are you? Exodus…when you go through the waters I will be with you…Judges…when God’s people cried out to Him in their distress He hears…all the way through the NT God the Father is concerned for His children.
In case you haven’t noticed there is no such thing as a perfect father. History is replete with men who were less than noble in their parenting. Maybe you to experienced inadequate parenting. But here’s the thing…Only God our Heavenly Father is perfect in all His ways. And how awesome it is to see how He uses the imperfect father to accomplish His purposes regardless. REASON #4 WE GET TO COMMUNICATE WITH OUR CHILDREN…
One of the most obvious features of our Heavenly Father…the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is His generosity. All the way through the Scriptures…He gave land, privileges, presence, He shared His glory with His Son (John 1:14), with His tasks (John 5:18), with His protection (John 10:28–32), His home (John 14:1–2), His joy (John 16:23–24). The Father gives (John 3:34–36). The Father gives His Son (John 3:16; 18:11); the Father gives His Spirit (John 14:16–17); the Father gives Himself (John 14:22–24).
No matter how you look at parenting…it involves sacrifice…it is the giving up of yourself to care for another. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God willingly gave the most precious thing He had…for those He loved! Most of us have done things like this because we love our families. (See also 1 John 3:16) We stay the course, we do every thing we can to help our families succeed. We don’t complain or really even think of it as a sacrifice, we just do it because it’s right and we know it. We forget about expensive cars we once dreamed about, we put off lavish vacations and we are glad to do it because it helps our family. We learned this from God who gave us love and the blessings we have in life. God is our father and He is the standard. It is not hard to live up to the standard, all we have to do is let God live through us. The hard part is keeping out of His way.
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