Here’s a project for all of you fathers out there. First thing Monday morning, don’t show up to work. In fact, don’t even call in. For fun, just see what happens. Chances are, you will receive a call from the boss or his secretary wanting to know where you are. Let’s go a step further. What if you did this for a whole week? Would that get you a raise? A promotion? How about a mere “good job” pat on the back from the supervisor?
We all know the reality. Not showing up to work on a regular basis would certainly get us fired. Sure, there are some businesses that would offer a second or third chance, but many would not tolerate such behavior at all. Much of the world is like that. If we skip classes we get dropped or receive an “F” or “Incomplete.” Fail to respond to a subpoena, we get a heavy fine, if not jail time. Even the entertainment industry understands the basic principal of attendance and being on time. Show up late for a play or opera, and you will not get in until intermission. No refunds.
So, with that in mind, let’s ask the really big question. Where do you stand with your real Boss in relation to your job as a father? Are you skipping days? Showing up late? Taking it for granted? Comfortably sitting back in your chair while your eyes are glued to the internet instead of investing more into the job with which you have been gifted? Or maybe you’re the type that will get to it later. You’ve got plenty of time.
A quick look at our job description should convict every single one of us about our level of commitment. “For I have chosen him [Abraham], in order that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice…” (Gen.18:19). How much time does that take?
“And these words which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart, and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deut. 6:6-9)
Face it, guys. The job can’t be done from the golf course. The job doesn’t leave room for putting in extra hours so you can afford that big screen TV. Above all, it is most definitely not a part-time job. The Lord has given us the most important job we will ever have. We have to show up for work! We can spend our lives putting in extra hours at our day jobs and climbing the corporate ladder, but it will all be worthless if we’ve left our children on the bottom rung.
On your deathbed will you look back with satisfaction at all the work you put in—the overtime, weekends, business trips, etc.—and be glad with all that you “achieved?” What would your review be like if you knelt before your Ultimate Employer to hear what He thinks of the job you’ve done? Fatherhood is neither a rung of the ladder nor a step toward a bigger future and better job. This is it. The job is now. It is happening every moment. You can’t put off and plan for later.
“[F]athers do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Eph 6:4) Fathers, it’s time to show up for work.
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I enlarged my works: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself… Also, I collected for myself silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of men — many concubines. Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. And all that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor. Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun. — Ecclesiastes 2:4, 8-11
Men, in general, are more careful about the breed of their horses and dogs than of their children. — William Penn
By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact. But I am prouder — infinitely prouder — to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys. The one has the potentiality of death; the other embodies creation and life. And while the hordes of death are mighty, the battalions of life are mightier still. It is my hope that my son, when I am gone, will remember me not from the battle field but in the home repeating with him our simple daily prayer, ‘Our Father who art in Heaven.’ — General Douglas MacArthur
U.S. Census Bureau Reports (1994-1997)
Only 34% of all children in America will live with both biological parents until the age of 18.
19% of White babies are born out of wedlock.
70% of Black babies are born out of wedlock.
57.7% of all black children, 31.8% of all Hispanic children, and 20.9% of all white children live in single–parent homes.
90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes
71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father. [U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services press release, 3/26/99]
63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes.
71% of high school dropouts are from fatherless homes. [National Principals Assoc. Report on High Schools]