Will You Provide, Protect and Preserve? I Will
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord”. — Eph 6:4
On this day, to the Father of all fathers, the Almighty, I say thank you, Father, for your providence, provision and for being my biggest proponent. Without God, I would be nothing. And with God, all things are possible. To Him, all glory goes.
To you, my dad. You are my hero, mentor and counsellor. Thank you for your guidance. Thank you for the lessons of workmanship, stewardship and leadership. Thank you for the values of life, friendship and family. For showing me the way that I should go, that have shaped me and kept me to be the person I am today.
God has blessed my path with men who have been like fathers to me. Men who allowed God to use them to be a blessing in my life. I can only repay them by paying it forward. These men have crossed my path as family, friends, pastors, bosses, mentors and school teachers. And to you all, I say thank you. I recognised some of them in my post below.
As we celebrate fathers today, we must not lose sight of the significance of this day in our African history. June 16, marks the Day of the African Child in commemoration of the Soweto Uprising on June 16, 1976. The day when some fathers watched helplessly as other fathers massacred hundreds of innocent children who were matching for their rights to education and for their language to be the medium of education.
We should not wave it aside as a mere coincidence that today is Fathers’ Day and the Day of the African child. But rather, we should take it as a call to action to all fathers to stand up for children all over the world. To stand up for our children, stand up for our brothers’ children and stand up for our neighbour’s children, for this is our divine calling. A video message which a friend shared with me reinforced this calling aptly.
The message in the video is a sobering call to me, and I believe that it will be the same to all well-meaning, courageous and responsible father. I wish for all Fathers to see this video, irrespective of your faith. Although the video (a clip from the movie Courageous) is of a Christian origin, it carries a universal message to all fathers.
Every father should courageously step up to be involved in the lives of their children, and all children that God bring in their path.
“As a father, you are accountable to God for the position of influence He has given you.”
The video closed with this call to action. A call to all fathers who are willing and courageous, to step up and say “I will.”
“You don’t have to ask, who will guide my family?
I will.
You don’t have to ask, who will teach my son to follow Christ?
I will.
Who will accept the responsibility for providing and protecting my family?
I will.
Who will ask God to break the chain of destructive patterns in my family’s history?
I will.
Who will pray for and bless my children to boldly pursue whatever God calls them to do?
I am their father, I will.
I accept this responsibility, and it is my privilege to embrace it. I want the favour of God and His blessing on my home.
So, where are you men of courage?
It is time to rise up and answer the call, that God has given to you and say — I will.”
Until we can truthfully, honestly and earnestly answer these questions in the affirmative, only then, would we have earned the right to celebrate Fathers’ Day?
Leave your resolutions in the comments below.
Happy Fathers’ Day.
PS: You can watch the video clip here
