Today we celebrate God’s goodness, the gift of families with the theme “The family: Society’s Building Block.”
Communities are made up of units of families and societies – towns, states and nations are made up of units of communities. And for us to boast of decent societies, the foundation should start with sound and decent families, the smallest units of the society.
Family day is also called Fathers’ day, a day set aside by the church to celebrate fathers and highlight their roles as heads of their families.
The father is the spiritual head of every family and so must be diligent in the study of the word of God and He must be sober at all times. He receives divine directives on behalf of his family and transmits to his household. Read Matthew 2: 13, 14 and 19 – 21. “After they left (The Eastern wise men) an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said “Herod will be looking for the child in order to kill him, so get up, take the child and his mother to Egypt.
Joseph got up, took the child and the mother during the night for Egypt. “After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Get up, take the child and the mother and go back to the land of Israel, because those who tried to kill the child are dead so Joseph got up, took the child and the mother and went back to Israel”. Joseph as a father, kept himself sober, heard and understood what God said and saved his family.
The Father Makes Sacrifices (Praises, Prayers and Intercession) on behalf of the family, He stands in the gap before God and his family. Read Job 1: 5 “The morning after each feast, Job would get up early and offer sacrifices for each of his children in order to purify them. He always did it because he thought that one of them might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally”.
The Father As Teacher/Adviser/Instructor: After the introductory verses 1- 7 of the book of Proverbs Chapter one, the book actually begins with the words “My son hear the instructions of your father…” (See Proverbs 1: 8) thereafter the following Chapters 2- 7 begin with calls to “My son” to listen to instructions/advice of “your father”. This is clear indication that the father owes his children the responsibility to teach, advice and instruct in the way that would not only produce God-fearing children but also responsible members of their respective societies.
The Father As Provider: Every father’s primary responsibility is to provide for the needs of his household as much as he can, within the limit of his legitimate income. Read 1 Timothy 5: 8. “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, especially the members of his own family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever”.
As we salute our fathers today, we make haste to remind them that peaceful and decent societies depend largely on how they mould their various families which are the societies’ building blocks. The indecent behaviours of some of our young people in our societies today should not be blamed on school teachers, peer group pressure, exposure to the internet and pastors alone, but searchlight must be beamed on our fathers to see if they are fulfilling their God assigned obligations to their families and whether they are leading by examples.
Read Matthew 7: 17 & 18 “A good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit, a good tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Read also Proverbs 22: 6 “Train a child the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it”. To train a child the way he should go, a father must be diligent in searching the scriptures. “The scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good works” (2 Timothy 3: 16 & 17).
As fathers we must make use of the wonderful opportunity of the gift of the scripture to mould our families in righteousness. If every family is grounded in the word and fear of God, the result certainly is a decent society.
We salute our fathers on this their auspicious occasion and pray God Almighty to give them Godly wisdom and material resources to take care of their various families.
Have a wonderful fathers’ day celebration!