“Regard (treat with honor, due obedience, and courtesy) your father and mother, that your days may be long in the land the Lord your God gives you.” (Exodus 20:12 Amplified Bible Classic)
I know you are on your way to church, and I also know that Father’s Day is not looked at in the group of special days where churches generally have high attendance. Those days are Mother’s Day, as well as Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Dr. F. Benjamin Davis referred to the latter three days when I was a child as “ETC Christians.” So, I will use this forum to honor all fathers, who performed their expected roles from a biblical perspective, grandfathers who assumed the roles abandoned by men who are labeled as “my baby’s daddy,” great grandfathers, as well as father figures who can be credited with being an influential person in a child’s development.
The verses above is from the Old Testament and it says, “honor your father and mother.” Fathers are not to excluded, but just as a point of emphasis, fathers are intended to be included in the raising of their child and in teaching them.
Let me honor those individuals listed in the first paragraph with a small poem that I just composed this very hour. It’s brief for the purpose of ensuring that I do not keep you from getting to the house of worship on time.
“Father”
We honor you and we thank you! It was your sacrifice that helped see us through!
Sometime we considered you tough and rough, but it was the loving care you gave us in many way, that was more than enough!
You are a part of what we are today. You can see it in the things we do and the things we say. Praise God!
The hours you worked, the sacrifices you made, are cherished in our hearts and will never fade. Praise God!
You were not about living it large for your self-indulgent, but you unselfishly denied self for our personal development! Praise God!
I know that the Lord put food on the table, but it was you who was used to show that the Lord is surely able. In times of abundance and poverty to, in regard to your duty to provide, you stayed very true. Praise God!
Thank God for molding and shaping you, for it was that work that made you responsible. And because of that we too can live, and in the presence of God we can be held accountable! Praise God!
We honor you, whether you are living or at home with the Lord. For without your impact, life would be so hard! Praise God!
Can I say it again, and again? We honor you! We honor you! Let your smiling begin! Praise God!
Be blessed!
“Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also forgave you.’” (Ephesians 4:32 Amplified Bible)
Mark L. King