THE REAL FATHER’S DAY

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

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: