A Father’s Day Perspective
Our Father. . .
Our Father, such an enduring term. It’s a term that evokes love, kindness, and security. Characteristics that are so important to a child. As we have fathers on this earth, we also have the Heavenly Father who cares for us so much that Jesus was sent to redeem us back to Him. The love of a father is only matched by the love of our Heavenly Father.
. . .Who are in Heaven, hallowed be your name.
A child looks up to and honors his father, sometimes referring to him as a “hero.” This respect may take on different roles as we go through life; from thinking Dad is the best, smartest person in the world to just appreciating Dad as someone who is there by your side as you go through life. Then someone who you honor by taking care of him as he ages, committing to be there for him as he were there for you. As we honor our fathers, we honor our Heavenly Father for always being there, taking care of us, and being right there beside us.
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Our earthly fathers are not always perfect. As a kid, especially as a teen, we may really think their thinking and their way of doing things is outdated, boring, and really confining. As we age, we may still feel some of those things, but begin to realize the reasoning behind them. And without even realizing it, one day we see that dear ol’ dad really did possess wisdom after all. And his will, well it was better for us than we may want to admit. . .as is the will of our Heavenly Father who is always out for our best interest, for our holiness.
Give us this day our daily bread.
From working to help support the family to being there to lend that helping hand, our fathers are always taking care of our needs. As we grow older and maybe even become parents ourselves, we realize how much our father did to take care of us. Then stop to think of all our Heavenly Father does for us. He gives us so much more than our daily bread. He gives us “a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over,” and poured into our laps. (Luke 6:38)
Forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors. . .
Yeah, this is one that is tough on an earthly and spiritual level. We are thankful for all the times our fathers overlooked our shortcomings, forgave, or maybe a better way of saying it is “paid for the mistakes we made.” Possibly as big as replacing a window we broke or as small as replacing new clothing that we ripped, destroyed, or stained because we sidestepped the rule of not playing outside in our good clothes. And it goes without saying that our Heavenly Father has forgiven every sin we’ve ever lived out if we have committed our lives to Him.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.
We thank dads for leading us, for setting the example for us to follow. They show us how to navigate as we journey through this world. And if we are fortunate, how to navigate into the next world. A man who follows God lights the way.
Happy Father’s (and Heavenly Father’s) Day,
Randy