Today is Father’s Day in America so many of us are thinking about our earthly father. In church today the minister invited us to think about all the good lessons our fathers taught us. What about those of us who didn’t have a father who stayed or a father who was involved? What about those of us who had an angry father to contend with? My father left me when I was fourteen and I joined the ranks of the fatherless.
At one point in my life, however, I realized I did have a father…in Heaven. He was not only my father, he was everyone’s. That realization was a blessing. And over the course of my life, I have seen many blessings from my Heavenly Father. I have seen evidence he has been with me right down the line.
In part of today’s devotion, I read these words:
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them, The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them. (Numbers 6:22-27 NRSV)
So on this Father’s Day, I again claim God as my Father and say my thanks to Him for all His blessings in the past, right now, and on into the future. And I rejoice that He is not just my Father, but the Father of the whole human race. Only some just have not acknowledged Him as yet.
Rich Rockwood, Christian Author 