Times Of Swaziland: THE REAL FATHER’S DAY

THE REAL FATHER’S DAY
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The Editor on 26/06/2019 00:31:00


Sir,
In June people around the world celebrate ‘Father’s Day’ as a way of
giving and showing honor to their dads. Though honoring our fathers should be an
ongoing practice, there is nothing wrong in giving dads their own special day of
honor. This day is not rooted in paganism and fits well within the fifth
commandment; ‘Honor your father and mother’.
Our biological, legal, fostered, adopted and in-law fathers are very important
in our lives but what about our heavenly Father? He is the Creator of us all,
and He loves us more than all our earthly fathers. Since Father’s Day is
important, we need to consider this day beyond our physical fathers, for we have
a spiritual Father in heaven, who is worthy of even greater honor, praise and
thanks. The Bible is not silent on this subject. The Bible speaks of a day that
the Lord set aside so that we can rest and have quality time with Him. Every
weekend, from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset we have a 24-four-hour period
called the Sabbath. It is a sign between God and His children (Ezekiel 20:20).
Hebrews 4 verses 9-10 state; “There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of
God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God
did from His.” The word ‘rest’ in the Old Testament is first used in
regard to God ‘resting’ from creation on the seventh day. At creation, man
was made in God’s image to reflect his Father. Since his Father worked
creatively for six days and rested on the seventh, we, as sons and daughters of
God, must rest as well. Thus the Sabbath Day is meant to be ‘Father’s Day’
every week. It was ‘made’ for man.
Sabbarth
In the New Testament, Jesus declared Himself ‘Lord of the Sabbath’ (Matthew
12:8). In addition, He declared; “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for
the Sabbath,” Mark 2:27. Jesus gives the rest that neither Moses nor Joshua
could provide. Under Moses, the people of God were disobedient and failed to
enter into God’s rest (Heb 3:18). Psalm 95:11 implies that Joshua could not
have given the people ‘real rest’ since, ‘through David’, God speaks
about the rest he will give on another day (Heb. 4:7).
This in turn implies that ‘there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of
God’ (Heb. 4:9). The book of Hebrews weaves together three themes of rest -
the rest promised to Israel from enemies, the physical rest of the weekly
Sabbath and the spiritual rest through Christ. The conclusion is that
Sabbath-keeping is still necessary for the people of God, the New Testament
Church.
Hebrews 4:10 affirms, we must all labour to enter the spiritual rest and
continue to keep the weekly Sabbath out of obedience to God and because of what
it portrays in His great master plan. This spiritual rest begins now in this
life and reaches its consummation in the resurrection to eternal life at the
return of Christ (Revelation 20:6). Dear beloved, what if your dad invited you
to spend Father’s Day with him and you responded by telling him that you were
too tired or too busy to spend the special day with him. Wouldn’t he be
disappointed? Please do not turn down your dad’s invitation, be obedient to
Him and you’ll definitely find joy in Him.
Bopoto Gwinyai