walkingbyfaith.com.ng

Speaking of Eli, God said, “I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them”

(1 Samuel 3:13). In I Samuel 2:29, Eli not only tolerated his son’s, but also participated in it by eating the portion of the sacrifice intended for the lord.

But didn’t eli correct his sons? Not really. In effect he said, “now boys, you shouldn’t do these things. People are talking” (see verse 23-25). Too little, too late!

A good man? Yes, very good. But did not have enough backbone to stand up to his son’s and say, “We aren’t going to tolerate your sins around here.”

Also read this….

“Spiritual Growth And Transformation”

“Tomorrow Shall Come With Joy”

It applies today: passivity as a father towards the things of God will damage you and your family. So that there will be no confusion. Let me explain what I mean by “Passivity.”

WHAT IS PASSIVE”?
First, passivity means having religion without reality. Eli was immersed in religion. He worked at the tabernacle – he lived there! But the reality of walking with God was not present in Eli’s life.

Eli was tolerant of personal and family sin but harsh on the sins of others. When Eli thought that Hannah was drunk at the door of the tabernacle. He scolded her (see 1:12-17).

But When his own sons were committing adultery at the door of the tabernacle, it wasn’t until the worshipers started complaining that Eli came out with his feeble, “Now boys you shouldn’t do that (see 2:22-25).

And as for the son’s corrupt practice of confiscating the sacrifice and eating the best parts (which should have been offered to the lord). Eli knew he shouldn’t eat those choice pieces, but he loved tozo. (see verse 29)!

Any time a father grows soft on obedience to the word of God, you know that he’s just playing the religion game. When you are not obeying God, you have lost reality.

Nothing corrupts children more than to see a parent who has the form of religion but who lacks reality with God. Kids know when you are putting on the pious act. Priests and church leaders- be warned.

Second, passivity Means shirking responsibility for shepherding your family. Eli’s boys were grown men.

perhaps Eli shrugged his shoulders and protested,”What can I do?” But God held accountable.Instead of drifting with the evil

currents of his day,he should have taken the helm and said,” Our family is going to be distinct!”But he let his family drift.chances he had acted the same way when the boy were younger.

Men,if you do not assume your responsibility for shepherding your own family,God will hold you accountable.maybe you are thinking,I did like to shepherd my family, but I don’t know how.What do l do?

Walk in personal reality with God -Dont play the religious game.Ans don’t shake your responsibilities.As a father it is your responsibility to first led your children to

personal faith in Christ. Eli’s sons”Did not know the lord”(1Samuel 2:12). You can not just let your children grow up neutral so that they can decide for themselves about God.They are growing up in a world that is hostile to God.

Third, teach your children God’s ways.Eli failed to impact to his sons a respect for God’s ways, including the scarifies and offerings.So they disobey God and disregarded the rebujes of God’s people.(see 2:16).

God’s ways are the principles revealed in his ward.for example, your children need to know that disobedience has consequences.They need to learn the importance of prayer and

Bible reading by seeing those things modeled as a way of life in the home.we live to serve others not indulge ourselves.our life governed by God’s ward.

Fourth,to shepherd your family you must teach your children to reverence God and things of God (see chapter 2:16,17,29,30).

I nerver want my children to hear me joking about God or his ward.At the same time, I do want them to know that a Christian home is a fun and a happy place to live.

Finally, correct your children when they need it.Eli was in his 90s so his boys were probably in there 40s or 50s,at least.pareent can’t correct there adult children as if they were first graders, but that mustn’t mean you must be passive. Proverbs 29:17 says,” correct your son,and he will give you comfort;he will also delight your soul”.

Perhaps you have seen yourself in this post mortem of a passive father.

Perhaps you it’s too late now.your children may be grown and gone. But,by God’s grace, it’s not too late to seek God’s forgiveness and actively to seek to influence your children- and even grand children- from this moment on.Again, when the man leaves the home the enemy takes over.

Let’s look at some other examples and results of other fatherless families.

Both king David and king Solomon are a case study of what happens in a fatherless family.

David had numerous wives and concubines. As a result,he had many children. David had many things distracting him,wars,commerce, building project,treaty negotiations,

entertaining, judging, that at the end of the day he had little time to spend with his kids. David was an absentee father.what was the result of his absenteeism?

His son Ammon raped his sister and Absalom had him assassinated.

A few years later Absalom tried to usurpe the thrown off his father David, slept publically with David’s concubines and almost succeeded in usurping the throne. Joab, David’s leading general killed Absalom.

While on his death bed David’s son Adonijah tried to usurpe David’s throne and David had to quickly have his son Solomon anointed as king to prevent it.

Listen,if king David would have restricted himself to one wife and pour his life into his children he won’t have this problems in his family.

And what about king Solomon? The Bible tells us that he had 700 wives and 300 concubines.Talk about an absentee father and husband.if you were one of Solomon’s

wives you would only get to sleep with him once every two and half years.We don’t know kids Solomon had, but he wasn’t able to play catch with all of them,I can tell you that much.

So what happened to Solomon kids?
Rehoboam, Solomon’s son and successor to the throne Lost his father’s kingdom because he was greedy, arrogant and stupid but primarily because of his father’s sins.

Solomon’s downfall was his love of foreign women.He intentionally disobey God and married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom,Sidom and from among the Hittites.

The Bible says,”the lord had clearly instructed his people not to intermarry with those nations because the women they married would lead them to worship there gods.”Sure enough, Solomon fail int idol worship in his later years and did evil in the sight of the lord.

Listen men, you may think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but I can assure you if you Cross the fence you will suffer! Take care of business on your own side of the fence and you will never regret it.

Solomon’s son Rehoboam lost the northern ten tribes of Israel to jeroboam. Jeroboam failed to serve the Lord and lost his entire family to political terrorism.

We can see clearly how turbulent those times were for Israel in 1kings 16:1-19.

The whole nation of Israel was spinning out of control! Immorality, idolatry, witchraft, graft and corruption were the rule of the day. The devil was having a heyday!

The sins of the father’s were visited upon their children over and over and over again. It’s a vicious cycle, yet, things are not different today.

Father’s abuse their wives and their little boys grow up to be wife beaters just like daddy. Father’s abuse drugs and alcohol and their little boys grow up to be just like Daddy.

Fathers spend little to no time with there kids and they wake up one day to discover they have lost that time with their kids forever- and they can’t get it back.

Listen, Dad’s, you have got to pour yourselves into your kids while they’re young. Teach them the ways of God! Teach them to pray,read their Bible,tithe, worship and serve the Lord while they are young. Dads your responsible for discipling your kids!

Dads, like it or not, your a hero to your kids- the question is, what kind of a hero are you?

For something on the positive end, let’s consider the fatherhood of a new testament man. His name- Cornelius. He was a career Army officer. My family knows what it’s like been a military family. Frequent moves,long periods of time when dad is gone,

hardships,sacrifies, having to say goodbye to your friends Every few years and move to a completely different environment.

And there is always the lingering possibility that dad might come home in a coffin.A military Man’s life is hard on families-no question.

So here is Cornelius who is the captain of the Italian regiment,a high ranking Roman army officer.yet the Bible tells us that he devote man who fear the God of Israel (and here is the most important part)”as did his in entire household”.

Cornelius devoted himself to the discipline of military life and was extremely successful in his military Career.In other to attain his rank meant that he was battle hardened,had spent

many months away from his family and endured countless hardships.so how was it that he so successful in bringing his entire household to be devoted to God? Simple,he modeled his faith in front of his family.

Let me read the account in Acts 10:8: 10:
1.At caesarea there was a man called Cornelius,a centurion in what was known as the Italian regiment.

2. He and all his family were devout and God- fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.

3. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

4. Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, lord?” He asked.The angel answered, “your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.

5.Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.
6.He is staying with Simon the Tanner, whose house is by the Sea.
7 when the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants.
.8.Hetold them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.

Not only did this man’s life model his faith in front of his family, but even in front of his soldiers.

Notice that one of his soldiers is described as “devout”. This didn’t happen by accident. Cornelius lived his life out authentically not only in front of his family but also on the job.
And when God told him to do something he was obedient immediately .

No questioning _no back peddling_ just a “yes sir” a smart salute and he executed his orders. Cornelius was a man of authority under authority and he understood the value of prompt obedience.

Oh, God l pray that we would have a whole church full of men who have the character of Cornelius.
So what was the reward of this godly father?

Acts 10:29-48, he direct contact with the Lord. Salvation that was first meant for the Jews was extended to the gentiles through him.

His entire households was saved and baptized with the home even in the face of unavoidable physical absence. Men what is the purpose of your life?why do you exist?.

How will you find meaning in life? How do you satisfy your need to be significant?
Who are your relationships in shambles?

How did you get so far into debt? Who are you trying to please anyway? Men, will you be like the kings of lsreal _ complete family failures or will you be like Cornelius a faithful father_ a true success and an example of godliness? Jesus gives us the perfect example of fatherhood in his Revelation of God as father.

Not only does the Bible define family in terms of the father, but Jesus revealed the most important title that God enjoys is “father”. Jesus prayed to God, ” l have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world”. (John 17:6,nkjv)

what name was new to the disciples? They already knew the name Yahweh, but they were not accustomed to the name ” father”. Jesus called God father more than any other title .

Infact, he almost exclusively used the name father in reference to God. Since father is the greatest title we can ascribe to God,then it stands to reason that father is the ultimate name we can obtain.

Every man should be proud to be called father. Even a single Man is called to be a father to the fatherless.fatherhood should exalted as the greatest job for man. How can we know what a father should look like?well,

since God is called father,we can look to him” However since God is invisible it is quite difficult to examplify fatherhood from an invisible God.so Jesus says,”Any one who has seen me has seen the father”.(john14:9).

Jesus called us brothers, because he is the first born among many brothers.(Romans 8:29) however,as the elder son, he takes the

responsibility to be the father to the children notice the Hebrew writer continues.He says that Jesus cries out,”Here am I,and the children God has given me.” (Hebrew 2:13).

It was normal in Biblical times for the oldest son to take the responsibility as father to his brothers.infact when the father died,the

eldest son will receive the inheritance,and he would then take of his brothers like the father did.so Jesus is both the first born among the first brothers and the father to them.

So to understand what is like to be father,we simply need to look at Christ.jesue is the example fathers should follow. And what example did he give?

The Hebrew writer continues, for this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way,in other that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God(Hebrew 2:17) .

Notice that Jesus main function for his brothers is to be a faithful priest to God. A priest represents his family to God. How God views the father is the way God will views the family.

The main intercessor is the priest and in this case,the father. Men know little about being a priest. They want to be the king of their castle,but until they are willing to serve as a priest,they are not worthy to be king.so too

often fathers vacate the office of priest and by default place,the mothers as priest. This is not God’s other or pattern.just as fathers can not take the place of mothers, mothers can’t take the place of fathers. Fathers are to be the priest in the home offering sacrifices.

One ward describe the duty of a priest; sacrifice.The father should sacrifice to the family. Yet , often the children sacrifices for the happiness of the father.

The worse way a father does not sacrifice for his children is his unwillingness to keep a marriage alive. He often have selfish sensual needs,so if his not happy with his wife,then

nerver mind the needs for the family to have both mother and father at home,he lives the wife so he can enjoy his revelry. The children are the ones who suffer the most.may God help the fathers.

Shalom..

Question

Men what is the purpose of your life?