Our father in heaven calls on us to be good fathers ourselves

IWAS BLESSED with a fine father. He was an honorable man from the old school. He didn't wear his heart on his sleeve, but I always knew that he dearly loved me.

He was an attorney who handled a great deal of criminal law in his earlier years of practice. One day he was handed a manila envelope stuffed with money while sitting on a park bench. It was right out of a movie.

He threw it to the ground, turned his back and walked away. I asked him many years later why he didn't take it. He replied that he never wanted to do anything that would make his twin boys ashamed of him. We never were.

I have often reflected upon that incident in my father's legal career. He could have set himself up quite nicely with the contents of that package. But nothing was worth his character or personal integrity.

I have long been influenced by my dear father. We didn't always understand one another, but we came to delight in one another's company. We even lived, worked and played together for one glorious year before I was called away to ministry.

I bore witness to my father's entry into saving faith in the early 1980s. He had begun to attend church, read his Bible and take the sermons to heart. He passed away in 1989. He died a Christian. He now lives in eternity, a true child of God.

There are days when I wish that my earthly father was still here. I would love to sit with him and listen to classical music or watch Boston Celtics games. But I will one day share an eternity with him in the presence of our heavenly father's glory.

Jesus set the precedent when he gave us instructions for prayer. He told us to pray in the following manner: "Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name . . . " (Matthew 6:9).

It is perhaps the most singular and remarkable contribution to what is broadly labeled the practice of religion. No one else would dare to address God as such. He is the inscrutable, omnipotent governor of the universe. Father?

It is actually a term that translates into the deepest expression of intimacy. The ancient Greeks would have been aghast. It would be blasphemous to Muslims, and Buddhists would be perplexed.

Our Jewish cousins would not be pleased, yet the Old Testament records God's poignant sentiment when he cried, "How gladly would I treat you like sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation. I thought you would call me 'Father' and not turn away from following me." (Jeremiah 3:19).

Jesus brought this exquisite pearl of divine truth into the full light of day. He honored his father by doing his bidding, imparting his teaching and remaining in right and intimate relationship with him. We are to do the same.

You know, the Bible never tells us to love our parents. I think that is a given. We are told to honor them. It is an act of intentionality. It requires investment of time and energy. One can never assume that one is actually honoring them.

It is the same with our heavenly father. He is to be honored with our lives. He is to be praised and adored by hearts that are sincerely disposed, and lives that are lived in loving obedience, to him. The blood and spirit of Christ have made this possible.

He is worthy of your first love. He is worthy of your time on Sunday morning in church. He is a worthy father of fathers. A Happy Father's Day is bid to all fathers and fatherly men - and especially to the God and father of our Lord Jesus!