Thursday, June 12, 2014

June 13, 2014

"And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." Luke 2:52

Joseph reminds me of Andrew, the disciple, because he doesn't show up in Scripture very often but whenever he does he is doing something very significant.

Andrew, whenever he is mentioned in Scripture he is seen bringing someone to Jesus.

Joseph, whenever he is mentioned in the Bible he is bringing Jesus to someone!

I honor Joseph as one of the best dads in the Bible, a true model and mentor for any dad who wants to do a better job.

As I have been sharing over the past several days, godly fathers like Joseph and Noah, knew their role was to allow the Heavenly Father to guide them in their parenting. They prayed and then they obeyed!

These fathers also availed themselves of spiritual resources to nurture the faith of their children. They made sure their children were surrounded by people of faith and exposed to good teaching.

They knew their role, they took advantage of their resources and they also embraced their responsibilities. 

What are the Biblical responsibilities of godly dads? To protect their family, to provide for the family and to prepare their family.

In the few brief mentions that Joseph gets in the Bible we see him getting up in the middle of the night to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to protect them from Herod. We also see him make the decision to take Mary for his wife after she is found to be pregnant. That means that he also decided to provide the child, Jesus, with an earthly father. And, we know Joseph was a carpenter and we know that Jesus was a carpenter before he began His ministry. So, obviously Joseph had prepared Jesus with a trade.

How do you plan to protect your family?

How well are you providing for your family? Are you providing what they need emotionally and spiritually as well as physically?

How are you preparing your family? What are you preparing them for?

Dads, are you looking for a role model or mentor to help you become a better parent? I point you to Joseph and challenge you to learn from him about your role, and about your resources and about your responsibility as a father!

And, by the way, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!