We Need Real Daddy's, Not Just Fathers!

“We Need Real Daddy’s, Not Just Fathers!!”

Today is the day in America and many other places around the world where men are honored for their accomplishments as fathers. For nearly 100 years now on the 3rd Sunday of June, we have observed this nearly sacred holiday. But today, I want us to see how we need more than just father’s. . . we need daddy’s! We need more than just a figure head. . . more than a distant parental figure. . . . more than someone to spend 2 weekends a month with. We need daddy’s! There are 2 reasons why I think that there is a difference, but first let’s take a look at some of the daddy’s of the bible. Some of them are good, and some of them are bad, but we are just going to be talking about the “good” ones today!

I. The bible is full of famous “daddy’s”

A. Abraham

All of us are somewhat familiar with father Abraham. We read in Genesis 17 that when he was 99 years old, God promised that he would make him the father of many nations. Not only that, God promised him something that had NOT been possible up until this time. . . that is to be able to bear children with his beloved wife Sarah, who was barren.

READ GENESIS 22:1-3 and 9-12 Abraham was asked by God to give up the one thing in his life that he had waited so long and so faithfully for. Abraham was so obedient that the angel called out for him to stop just moments before he offered Isaac up!!

We don’t know for sure what was going through Isaac’s mind, but I can bet that his father’s faithfulness made more than just a casual impact on him!

B. What about Joseph? The stepfather of Jesus? In the very limited number of verses that are written about him, we DO know that he was a righteous, gentle, and hard working man. When he found out that his fiancée Mary was with child, he was going to put her away, and not marry her. Instead, God knew that even JESUS needed a father, and sent the angel to explain things to him and set him straight!

When we hear about this, and then we hear all of the women on all of the talk-shows saying “I don’t need no man to raise my child!”, it should make us think again about how wrong that statement is!

All we really know about him is that he taught his son, Jesus, to be a carpenter, like he himself was. He taught him that God comes first when he took him and his mother to Jerusalem for the Passover. Oh what a world this would be if only we had more fathers’s taking their kids to Church!

C. And don’t forget about GOD. The Heavenly Father. . . the Father of all creation. The Father who did what he asked Abraham to do. . . to offer up his son as a living sacrifice. Only no one was there to stop the hands of His executioners. I could spend an entire year just preaching about this one topic, but time will not allow me to do that today, but what I will say to you is the words found in Romans 5:6-9

“6For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the GOOD man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”

II. Reason #1 why I believe there is a difference between being a father and being a daddy: Being a Daddy Takes ACTIVE EFFORT

A. Men we need to become daddy’s to our children. This takes a lot of effort! It isn’t going to just happen by accident! We need daddy’s to set the example for their children. . . by a life that we model to them each and every day.

It is up to US to model how to be a Christian, a SINCERE Christian. One that is all that he says and does while he is at Church in front of everyone else!

It’s up to us to model for our children good decision making abilities. . . decisions based on scripture, and based on our desire to put the Lord first in our lives. Do they see you choosing to study your bible and have a devotion with them, or do they just see you flop down in your Lazy Boy chair and click on the TV? Do they see you making a wise decision to abstain from alcohol, and to drink pop or iced tea instead? Do they see you model the decision to practice compassion, like the Good Samaritan, or do they hear you complain about how all that people want is a handout from the world?