As the God-appointed leaders of a home, fathers have great responsibility to love, protect, and provide for their families. Unfortunately, not all fathers have fulfilled those responsibilities. If you have a great father, you certainly have reason to celebrate him on Father’s Day. If you have not had a great father, this day might bring back some bad memories, or you might find this day a struggle. If you are a father, maybe you try to be a good father but find it difficult to fulfill the duties of such a high calling. No matter the situation, no human father will ever be perfect, no matter how much they try (or don’t try). Fathers are just as much in need of God, the Heavenly Father, as the rest of us! When we put our trust in God, we all will find Him to be our ultimate leader, protector, and provider.
In one of the great examples of God as our Father, He gave us a way to overcome the power of sin and death and eternal separation from Him. By sending Jesus Christ to die in our place and then rise again to overcome death, He provided a way, through our faith in Christ, to be adopted sons and daughters of God (Ephesians 1:5).
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26).
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1).
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
When we trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, we are given the Holy Spirit who reminds us and guarantees us of our eternal home in Heaven with the Father.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:14-15).
With God as our Father, we receive everything we need in this life and the next.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).
We are then able to take His blessings and bless others.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
Through Jesus Christ, we can ask the Father for anything as we seek to glorify Him in the world (see John 15:16).
He invites us to pray to Him, to commune with Him, and to seek Him for all that we need.
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:8-13).
God is the best Father any of us can have. He gave us all we need to experience His love, guidance, and protection, by sending Jesus Christ in the world to rescue us from sin and death, and by sending the Holy Spirit to strengthen and encourage us for the journey here as we look to eternal life.
And for that reason, we can all celebrate Father’s Day!