Friday, June 15, 2007

Giving Value to Our Father

This Sunday is Fathers Day. Whether your father is still alive or is no longer here on earth, it is a time to honor the man who brought you here. Exodus 20:12 says to "Honor your father and your mother, so you may live long." Honoring our parents obviously meant a great deal to God because it is one of the Ten Commandments. In the Bible, to honor means 'to value'. I didn't fully grasp what this meant until I became an adult and parent myself.

Goodness knows my dad had his hang ups when I was living at home. To start with, he could argue with a tree. He was BIG on discipline (much to my rear end's dislike); when he got going on a diatribe, I just sat in the backseat of the car and rolled my eyes; his lectures were long and cumbersome; and he kept the boys away. But daddy did many things right. He worked 2 jobs to put me and my siblings through school, he was at every extracurricular activity I was a part of, he ate dinner with us every night, he went to church with us every Sunday and Wednesday night; and he supported my dreams.

Although I may not have always agreed with him, the Bible gave me no choice in the manner. The Bible says I must "honor" my father. It didn't say I had to like him or agree with him, but it did say I needed to value him. So on this Fathers Day, value your father. He was and is a gift from God to you---and we shouldn't throw away God's gifts.

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