When many men think of whom they would consider role models, they might think of great athletes, financial giants, rock stars, or self-help gurus. If any of those are the kind of man that we admire and attempt to emulate, guys, our aim is set far too low. Those kinds of talents may be impressive, but they all pale when compared to this: “He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing. He binds up the water in His thick clouds, yet the clouds are not broken under it. He covers the face of His throne, and spreads His cloud over it. He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, at the boundary of light and darkness. The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at His rebuke. He stirs up the sea with His power, and by His understanding He breaks up the storm. By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26:7-14).
That, of course, is our Father, and He is the perfect example and role model of the high calling of being a father. The apostle Paul wrote: “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 5:6-7).
Christian men and dads, you are sons of God, heirs of the One who hangs the earth on nothing and created the expanding heavens. Your Father is so powerful that the heavens tremble and are astonished at His rebuke. He can stir up or calm the seas of the entire world. His Spirit adorns the heavens. Yet these are only a fraction of the marvels of His ways!
Why settle for such small and powerless human figures for our “heroes” on earth? You are sons of the Most High God! Throughout the Scriptures we find many references to our heavenly Father, such as in Psalm 68:5, which calls Him a father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, who dwells in His holy habitation. What a role model!
Ecclesiastes 5:2 reminds us that God is in heaven and we’re on earth, so our dwelling place is a bit different from His. He resides in glorious perfection; we live in a sinful and fallen world. Nevertheless, we’re called to make our homes holy habitations. And our Father will lead and guide us in that as we seek His wisdom (See Ephesians 6:4).
Over the next few days, we’ll be looking at some ways that we can do just that as we follow along with Psalm 119 and take a deeper look into the subject of The Father Hood, which will be explained a little more tomorrow. Women will appreciate this study as well, so let’s pray today that God will open all of our hearts and minds to learn from Him what His plan is for all of His children, as the good, good Father that He is.
The word “hood,” an abbreviated form of “neighborhood,” is slang for “where you live. We’re going to take a look a this portion of this great psalm through the lens of how men can live like sons of the King of kings and Lord of lords as fathers, seeking to make our homes holy habitations in an unholy world. We’ll be looking at three things over the next few days that will help us to be and do that for which our Father made us through the blood of His own Son, Jesus Christ.
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