"The Coolest Job on Earth!"

“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.

• Isn’t that what God has done for us?  He is a Father to the fatherless…yet by His grace, He claims us as His own children and we receive His Name…we are “a part of the family of God”.

Romans 8:13-17 For if you live according to the flesh (sinful nature), you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God these are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit of bondage (that makes you a slave) again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption (sonship) by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs…heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified together.”

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.”

• Need to be careful to not take this passage out of context…but if we look at the preceding passages God has taken care of the devil and all the “bad stuff’ is either destroyed or banished. This means that we will be safe and secure. The doors are locked, the dead bolt is in place. The security system is turned on. There is no danger. No abuse. No hatefulness. No sarcasm. No rolling eyes. No disappointment. Nothing but the good stuff and we will have access to it forever.

 You can’t help but wonder if our homes should not be a foretaste of Heaven, a safe place where there is safety and security, This is a description of God’s home and it should be a description of our home too. By the way, the enemy knows this too and that is why the home and rile of father in the home is under attack and maligned and twisted to take away the foretaste of heaven.

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.” 

• Get that word “justified” in your heart…a declaration of perfect righteousness…just as if I’d never sinned…the righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to us…when God looks at us He sees Christ’s righteousness.  
• We do not have to earn God’s favour. You or I standing alone before God are in trouble; we are sinners who have failed. But when redemption through Christ is added, everything changes, mercy is applied, redemption happens and our vain failures are replaced with divine favour and completeness.
• Redemption that is in Christ Jesus…we need to be identified with Jesus

Likewise, needing to be identified with Christ does not make us less, but more. Needing Christ does not take from our character, it completes our character. God does not point to our inadequacies when He points out our sin, rather He’s pointing to our potential with Christ in us.
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.

• Probably the most notable picture we have is the picture of the Father of the prodigal…in Luke 15:20ff…as He waited for his son to return…watching for him, loving him and falling on him and kissing his neck and restoring his son to sonship…also how he treated the other son as well.
• This is a model for us to follow, showing our love and concern for our children.

REASON #5 , WE GET TO SEE HOW GOD USES THE IMPERFECTIONS OF THE FATHER…
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…

• The Fatherhood of God shows us the importance of communication.  The Bible you are holding in your hands is evidence of the fact that God wants to communicate with us.  
• Luke 11:1-4 When the disciples saw Jesus praying came to Him and said “Lord teach us to pray” What did He say? “When you pray, say “Our Father in Heaven…Jesus Himself shows us God desires communication. 
• God communicates with us…He spoke to Adam & Eve…all the way through the Bible…In the NT He stoops in fact to our level, in the incarnation so that the Living Word may speak.
• It doesn’t matter the relationship…problems always happen when communication stops.  There is an unfortunate divide that happens when we stop communicating with our children.

REASON #3 WE GET TO LEAD OUR FAMILY BY EXAMPLE…

• Philippians 2:5-8 “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God,did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (See also: 1 Peter 2:21)
• To His disciples Jesus said “Follow Me” He did not live one lifestyle and ask His followers to lead another.
• As fathers, mothers, friends and Christians we are called, not to lead from above, but to lead from beside.

REASON #2 WE GET TO BE GENEROUS…
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).

• All fathers love to give good gifts to their children. Luke 11:10-13 God loves so much that He gave…

REASON #1 WE GET TO SACRIFICE…PARENTING IS ALL ABOUT SACRIFICE… 
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.