Matthew 7:11 NIV
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him
Our God is not a ceremonial God that can be so empty, repetitious, and a form that denies the power of Him and what He has done. He is a celebratory God and He ordained feasts to celebrate His everlasting covenant with creation and those who have chosen Him.
In our day we call them Holidays to commemorate and celebrate victories and historical events in our various nations’ histories. They are there for one generation to acknowledge what God has done and what those who came before us accomplished.
Father’s Day and Mother’s Day, for us in the U.S., are two of the most important celebrations. In them, the first and fifth commandments in our relational behavior are declared. The first four have to do with our relationship to God and the next six are to one another. The first of these is the command to honor your Father and Mother and it is the first and only commandment with promise. The promise of God’s favor on the children’s lives, “so that their days are prolonged on the land which the Lord thy God has given you.”
First, we have the destruction of the family institution that was and is created by God. When He created them male and female and gave the marriage covenant to bring forth offspring, their children, it was good — out of His goodness. The first attribute that is testified of God is that HE IS GOOD. Everything He created was amended by His goodness. It is this promise to children that the evil one hates, and his evil purpose is to target the innocence of children to destroy the family. No greater evidence is the genocide in the birth of Moses and of Jesus. In our lifetime it is the legalizing of abortion.
History shows that in the changing and overthrowing of governments, a ruler’s whole family was annihilated. Honor brings favor and promise to those children who, even when a Father is not honorable, God and His authority and sovereignty remain. He contrasts the difference between earthly fathers and the Heavenly Father. If you fathers, being evil, know how to give good things to your children, how much more your Father, wills to do more than you can think or ask, so much more. He is not saying fatherhood or motherhood is evil, but He is drawing a comparison that, in terms of His goodness, the heavenly Father’s goodness is so far above It can never be measured nor be compared between the two. It will always be seen in this light. As Jesus responded when He was called good,
And He said to him,Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
Matthew 19:17 NIV
The rejection of the fifth commandment is based on earthly fathers’ evil disobedience and not acknowledging the authority and goodness in God the Father. We as fathers need to see our place to be like Him. Otherwise, we rob our children of the promise of God to them. It is a huge stumbling block placed before them as children to overcome in their lifetime. “Forgive me my Father,” I would say. Fatherly offenses far outweigh and are more prevalent than motherly ones. Unforgiveness, seeded in them as children, is the devil’s scheme to keep them from receiving the Heavenly Father, sending the Son to be their Savior and Lord. Everyone in the family unit is to keep this commandment and celebrate fatherhood, which was the priority of Jesus. When He taught us to pray, He first brought honor to the Father,
Matthew 6:9-10 NIV
“This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
I pray that we will as fathers, seek to fulfill the last two prophetic verses in Malachi,
Malachi 4:5-6 NIV
“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”
The hearts of the father and children are restored so that the children and the land are preserved. Honor and happiness to all fathers on this: an important day set aside for celebration.
Hallelujah! -KC
Thank you Lord for your love for your people.