"Father's Day" 2006

What's to be learned from the patriarchs? Will there be any patriarchs from this generation of dads?

I see a couple of trends in 'parenting' today. I really hated to use the term 'parenting' in regard to these trends. 'Parenting' is more than the process of biological reproduction.

It is more than being a child's friend or buddy. It is more than being the president of a child's fan club and attending all his or her events. It has nothing to do with driving a kid to great achievement. It certainly has nothing to do with bossing a kid around, yelling at the kid, or slapping the child around after he or she has embarrassed or frustrated the mom or dad.

'Parenting' wasn't always done well or even done right by many of the characters in the Bible. There is a long list of those who were pretty lousy at it: Noah, Lot, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Eli, David, etc.

Okay fellows, I know I just named men...this is a Father's Day devotional. There were women in the Bible who weren't too great at being mothers, I know that...but this isn't about mothers. This is about men. This is about being a male parent - a father.

The thing that concerns me perhaps the most about the poor state of fatherhood is where it will lead us and leave us in a few years. When the elderly fathers of today are dead and gone...will there be patriarchs from our present generation and this younger generation that is now having babies?

I'm wondering if there will be anyone who has earned the right to say, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Will there be anyone who will have younger generations respecting him enough to even care to come for direction and blessing?

Will there be anyone who is even known to possess wisdom? Will there be anyone among this present generation who is well-enough-thought-of for anyone to want to seek him out?

The path to becoming a patriarch starts with the birth of your first child. If you don't do it well from that point, it isn't likely you'll become a patriarch just because you have great-grandchildren.

Although, if you do change your stripes by the time you have grandchildren and become a nurturing, encouraging, inspiring man of God to those grandchildren, you might become a patriarch to them.

The difficulty is in changing your stripes. It is said, "There's little difference between a zebra and a wild jackass; and there's precious little difference between a man and a zebra...neither seems capable of changing its stripes."

Perhaps there is hope. Today is the best time to start nurturing, encouraging, inspiring, loving, protecting and walking alongside.