Skylar's Blog & Podcast

I always find it strange that there is only one commandment where God makes a promise afterwards. I also find it peculiar which commandment God chose to link that promise to. It wasn't "You shall have no other gods before me" or even "You shall not murder." It's placed right after "Honor your father and your mother..." If you look above you can see the promise, and I have to admit it's a pretty good one. In laymen's terms God is saying: honor your mom and dad and you're going to have a long life (I'm sure you needed me to clarify that for you ; ). Does anyone else find this peculiar? Why does God issue this promise after a commandment about our dads and moms? Why is this so important? Anyone? Well, since I'm writing I guess I'll take a crack at it. There are many, MANY places in the Bible where He labels Himself as our "Heavenly Father" (Psalms 68:5; Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 6:9). Does this help at all? No? In my experience, how we interact with and treat our parents has a direct correlation with how we treat and perceive God, and I think God would agree. Look at Leviticus 20:9 (come on we both know you love Leviticus); what was the penalty for cursing your parents?...Death! This is the punishment reserved today for only those who commit the most unthinkable crimes. I believe God knew His children would treat their Heavenly Father in the same way they treated their earthly parents.

So, to the title of this blog. What does it have to do with all of this "Honor your parents..." talk. Absolutely nothing! However, as Father's Day creeps closer (June 20th in case you forgot) I begin to think more and more about the importance of our dads. You see, our perception of our dads has more to do than just what we think about an older man who is balding and refuses to wear a big enough shirt around the house. Like I said earlier, our relationship with our dads has a direct tie to our relationship with God, but not solely in the way I've already mentioned. You see, dads have a lot of pressure put on them. Not only are they responsible for taking care of you, themselves, and your mom, but they are also challenged to reflect the image of God Himself. God takes a great risk calling Himself our Father because there are some of us who don't have a healthy picture of what a dad is. Have you ever sat down and really thought about your perceptions about your dad are, or just what thoughts come to mind when you think of dad. Before we go on let's remember: no dad is perfect, nor will any dad ever be perfect. However, every dad has been instilled with certain qualities which reflect God's character as our Heavenly Father. Now, some of you don't have a dad because he chose to walk out. Consequently, this blog doesn't really hit you the right way. Take heart, God is the perfect father we have all always wanted. No dad could ever love us completely the way God loves us. If you are in this boat thank God because He is such a good Dad. In fact, He's so good He gave up His only kid so we could have a relationship with Him. All that to say, this weekend I want you to do something: I want you to really spend some time trying to figure out how to bless your dad. Try to think of two (you can do more if you want) ways your dad reflects the character of God as our Heavenly Father and let him know about what you discovered. And, if you don't have a dad thank God for the great Father He is. Just always remember, no matter how cool your dad is, my dad can definitely beat up your dad.