There are two strong images of my father which have been imprinted on my brain since childhood: a man sitting at a desk surrounded by books and studying his Bible; and a man standing in a pile of sawdust with a piece of wood in his hand. In one image, the man is engaged in learning more so that he can be more like his Father; and in the other, a man is using the knowledge and wisdom which he has learned through years of practice to create something that is both useful and beautiful.
That is my father, in essence. A man after God's own heart, who uses the skills and talents he has been given to serve and save others.
When I think of my father, I think of the Bible. The two are inseparable. My grandmother told me many times that Dad always wanted to be a preacher, and that may be true; but what I witnessed throughout my life was much deeper than that. Dad wants to bring the Good News to people, and he does it from a pulpit or from a kitchen chair or from whatever circumstance he happens to be in. He cares for people, he cares for their hearts and he cares for their souls. He has accepted the mission given him by God and works tirelessly to accomplish as much as is possible in this life. He has truly taken into his own heart the passage in the letter to the Hebrews which states:
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."
Dad has endured, and he continues to run the race. It is probably no coincidence that, along with preaching and teaching and ministering to others, he has always enjoyed physical running as well. It is a marvelous earthly symbol of his own spiritual journey, a constant, steady, determined exercise of his desire to persevere throughout the trials which come.
My father's reputation proceeds him wherever he goes. He exudes honesty and integrity and devotion to God, and this aura is recognized by others. In gatherings both public and private, he is often called upon to pray or to speak words of comfort and hope from the Scriptures. In this he is the living embodiment of the words spoken by Jesus in the sixth chapter of Luke:
"Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."
My father is a good man, a righteous man, whose fruits give evidence of his commitment to the Lord. He is surrounded by people who benefit from his work, who rejoice in knowing him, in being served by him, in learning about the Creator of the Universe from him. His heart is full of love for this lost world, and he expresses this love not only in the words which come out of his mouth, but also in the works which come out of his hands. And as he recognizes that his skills are a gift from God, he creates those fantastic works of wood not out of a desire for gain, but out of a desire to enrich the lives of others and so bring glory and honor to his Lord.
As any son does, I desire to be like my father, and there are times when I find myself doing things that were obviously inspired by the example he set forth. And these things are those acts of service which bring joy or pleasure or comfort to others, for that is his example. And it bring me great joy to think of my father every time I do them, because I want the beneficiaries of those acts to know that I learned them by spending time with my father, being taught by both observation and by training to do what is right and honorable and noble and sacrificial, but above all, showing love to others.
If there is any prayer I would have for my father on this day which we set aside to honor fathers, it would be that he is granted many more years to work and serve upon this earth, with strength of body and strength of mind, with good health and keen mind, to continue the good work which he has started, so that he may, as Paul said,
"... finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace." {Acts 20:24}
God bless you, Dad!
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