Happy Father’s Day

Today is Father’s Day. Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there, including step-fathers or any type of father figure. Today we hoor you. In the same way mothers were honored last month. It is also the same as we honor our heavenly father, just as Jesus did.

Today’s verse comes from one of the Ten Commandments given in Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God giving you.” This is the fifth commandment, with all of them listed in the book of Exodus, chapter 20. The commandments are simply not just a bunch of words given to Moses on stone tablets. The commandments are one of many covenants God had with his people, the Israelites. They were a list of rules of how God wanted his people to act.

In the fifth commandment, God was asking the children (mostly the adult children) to look out for their parents, provide for them in their older age when they may be incapable of providing for themselves.

Today, we use it for all children to respect and love their parents, and still provide for them as they get older.

With today being Father’s Day, we are reminded of that simple truth. We must come back to that truth in order to follow God’s commandments and honor those that brought us into this world. And even those who have helped form us and shape us through our own growing through the years.

I know there every father may not be the strongest role model or the best father, but I’m sure they try in their own way. There have been times of disconnect with my own father through the years, but he is still my father and love him and do the best I can.

Good fathers share positive upbringing to his children. That goes for mothers as well. But in Ephesians 6:4, it says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” As I said earlier, the commandments were given as a guide of how God wanted his people to act. So this verse from Ephesians reminds us that we also must give reverence to our heavenly father, the Creator of all things, as it says in Matthew 10:37, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

This simply follows God’s commandments. Giving reverence to those who raised us and supported us, even to those who helped form us and teach us, is important. But so is honoring the Father in heaven. It is the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) It is a name above any other name. And all glory and honor is for him.

So today, let’s not forget our fathers, our parents, and those other parental figures in our lives. And let us not forget our Father in heaven. Here is a prayer to help with that. “Father, please show me how I can honor my parents – even if our relationship is difficult. I also than you for the special mentors ad parental figures you’ve give me. Amen.”