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DADDY

By George W. Sinquefield

(Mark 10:13 KJV)  "And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them."

(Mark 10:14 KJV)  "But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God."

(Mark 10:15 KJV)  "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein."

(Mark 10:16 KJV)  "And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them."

        Daddy, let me ask you a question. Would you like for your precious little boy to be like you when he grows into manhood? What he is as a man will depend largely upon you, how you influence him during his life.

       We determine, by a large degree, what he will be by the influence we bring to bear in his young, tender life.

There are little eyes upon you, and they're watching night and day;
There are little ears that quickly take in every word you say;
There are little hands all eager to do everything you do,
And a little boy who's dreaming of the day he'll be like you.

You're the little fellow's idol; You're the wisest of the wise;
In his little mind, about you no suspicions ever rise;
He believes in you devoutly, holds that all you say and do
He will say and do in your way when he's grown up just like you.

There's a wide-eyed little fellow, who believes you're always right;
And his ears are always open, and he watches day and night;
You are setting an example every day in all you do,
For the little boy who's waiting to grow up to be like you. -- Edgar A. Guest

TWO PRAYERS

Last night my little boy confessed to me
Some childish wrong;
And kneeling at my knee,
He prayed with tears,
"Dear God, make me a man
Like daddy - wise and strong;
I know you can.

Then while he slept
 I knelt beside his bed,
Confessed my sins,
And prayed with low-bowed head;
"O God, make me a child
Like my child here -
Pure, guileless,
Trusting thee with faith sincere.
        -- Andrew Gillies

        Remember dad, in moral matters there are no double standards. The devil is the author of this idea, that it is all right for a man to smoke, drink, curse, etc., but it is not ladylike for a woman. What is wrong for the wife is wrong for the husband. What is wrong for the children, father is wrong for you, because you are to set the example.

I.    Your spiritual responsibility as a dad

(Eph 6:4 KJV)  "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."

        The word "nurture" means chastisement, or chastening. The chastening of children by the father is explicitly commanded in the Bible, the Word of the Lord.

(Prov 19:18 KJV)  "Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying."

(Prov 23:13 KJV)  "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die."

(Prov 23:14 KJV)  "Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell."

        Someone has said that the duty of parents is to take little ones with sinful, perverted natures and prepare them for heaven. In order to do that there must be punishment for sins and strong authority in the home. The only answer to juvenile delinquency to a generation which has grown up without self-control, without and steadfastness of moral characteristics is to go back to the Bible and find God's way of growing men and women with character.

        Admonition means what we refer to as the Word, the Bible. Dad you are to bring that little boy (or girl) up according to the Word of the Lord. Time spent in teaching them the principles of God's Word is certainly never lost.

        We need more men like Joshua who said in Joshua 24:14-15:

(Josh 24:14 KJV)  "Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD."

 
(Josh 24:15 KJV)  "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

(Eph 6:4 RVS) "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."

II.     Dad, spend time with your children.

        The future of your boy depends primarily upon giving him your personal attention. The child sees the father as a very important person but one who vanishes from his little world in the morning and returns in the evening, tired and hungry with no time for his children except to bid them good night. Neither the child nor the father is getting out of the relationship what he should. Slowly, but surely, the father becomes excluded from the child's world. What hope can there be of mutual understanding when the days of childhood are past and real problems take the place of imaginary ones.

        E. Mitchell Hodges tells the story of meeting a very prosperous businessman who asked him, "Would you like to know what I'm giving my boy for Christmas?" Hodges said, "Yes." The businessman pulled out a piece of paper with the following written on it. "To my dear son. I give to you one hour of each weekday and two hours of my Sunday to be yours, to be used as you want it without interference of any kind whatsoever." Hodges thought, "I wonder what that boy will think and feel when on Christmas morning he looks at that slip of paper. If he is an average boy, he will be very much dissatisfied. If he is an unusual boy, he will realize that his father has given him something that he can never repay."

        Hodges asked, "How did you reach that decision to give that present/" He said, "One day I was seated in my office and a human derelict came in to see me, and when he mentioned his name I said, "Lad, to see you like this -- and you with such a father! "Well I have often heard said that he was a fine man," said the boy, "All his friends have said so, I never knew him. He was so occupied with his associations that I only saw him occasionally at meals. I never knew him."

        "That made me think, and I am going to concentrate on having my boy know me."

        Edgar Guest, in his story, What My Father Did For Me, says;
 

        "During our walks together, he had a way of calling my attention to men he wanted me to know, and always he talked about them. He seemed to be acting as a pair of magnifying glasses for me, enlarging the good qualities of others that I might see them clearly. I never saw a great man without my father's explaining to me why he was great nor a bad man without being made to understand what made him bad. In that way I learned what traits to acquire and what faults to avoid. He was teaching me by example and I didn't know I was being taught." I have made many good friends and true, because my father taught me how lasting friendships are made. I have found much happiness in life, because he taught me where happiness could be found. I have been spared regret and shame and misery and the embarrassment of countless follies by the tact and genius of his council and scarcely a day goes by, even now, that I do not discover in my heritage from him, some new vein of riches."

        Don't you know that father appreciated so much the one who simply wanted to sit on his lap -- to be near him?

Many an excellent man is tempted to forget that the best offering he can make his children is himself. -- John Henry Newman

        Another matter of extreme importance is playing with your child. Parents do not realize the importance of play, and often times looks upon it as foolishness, as a waste of time. Nothing could be further from the truth. Play is vital to the child and is closely related to his total development, physical, mental and spiritual. The child's whole life is built around his muscles and nothing can take the place of action in his life.

        Dr. G. E. Johnson in his book, Education Through Plan and Games, points out that it, "takes a human being almost one third of his life to get ready to live and that one third is spent mostly in play. Play thus becomes as important means of self discovery and life discovery."

    Dr. Josiah Strong says, "The impulse to play is as natural and normal as the inclination to sleep or the desire to eat: and when we understand its true meaning, we find that it is not simply a permissible thing -- but a divinely ordered thing." If God gives the impulse, father ought to provide the opportunity of expression of the impulse. As children engage in play with their father, their personalities unfold and they grow in his likeness and image. Thus the father throughout all the play can encourage and develop such traits as honesty, gallantry, cleanness, kindness, respect, courtesy, ability to be a good loser, loyalty, bravery, and humility. Many a disobedient, uninterested, lazy child could be made alive with a new spirit overnight if father would try playing with him.

        The problem so often with parents is that they are too busy. Their time is cluttered up with meetings, with social activities and, of course, their job. It is so important that we dedicate a portion of our twenty four hour day to spend with our precious little ones.

        One year ago today I sat at my desk with a month's bills and accounts, when a bright faced, starry eyed lad of twelve rushed in and impetuously announced: "Say, Dad, this is your birthday; you are fifty five years old and I am going to give you fifty five kisses, one for each year." He began to make good his words when I exclaimed: "Oh, Andrew, don't do it now: I am too busy.

        His silence attracted my attention, and looking up I saw his big blue eyes filled with tears, and apologetically I said: "You can finish tomorrow. He made no reply, but was unable to conceal his disappointment, his face wearing a grieved expression as he quietly walked away.

        That same evening I said: "Come and finish the kisses now, Andrew." But he did not respond to the invitation. Two months later, in consequence of an accident, the waves of the river closed over his body and we carried him away to sleep near the village where he loved to spend his vacation. The robin's note was never sweeter than his voice, and the turtle  doves that coo to their nestlings were never so gentle as my little boy, who left unfinished his love imposed task.

        If I could build a ladder to the skies and find him there; if I could only tell him how much I regret those thoughtless words spoken, and could be assured that he understands and knows how my heart is aching because of my unkind request, there would be no man in all this wide world so expressibly happy as the one who sits today and thinks how he prevented an act that love inspired, and grieved a little heart as tender as the mercy of God.

        A mother was talking to her children about salvation, about going to heaven. When they came to discussing heaven, they took turns talking about what they would do when they got to heaven. Finally on of the small children said, "My, it will be terrible that  daddy will not be there." "What do you mean," asked the mother, "Daddy will not be in heaven with us?" The little child simply replied, "Daddy can't get to heaven He's always too busy at the store making money."

III.    Dad, make sure of your salvation and lead that precious boy (or girl) to know Jesus as Savior.

        On a warm Sunday afternoon a loving father had just been to the village cemetery to see the grave of an infant. His four year old child, deeply impressed, took his hand and said, "Papa, when you die and go to heaven, will you take me too?"

        The father, startled by the strange and artless question, replied evasively, "Why do you ask, my son?" The little fellow gripped his hand more closely and looking up with the light of love in his eyes said tenderly, "Cause I want to go with you."

        Patrick Henry ended his will with this message. "There is one thing more I wish I could give you. It is the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ. With it, if you have nothing else, you could be happy. Without it, though you have all things else, you could not be happy.?

        Edger A. Guest has written what he considers the real job of the father. He says, "If I don't help my boy, Bud, to grow up right I'll call myself a failure, no matter how much money I make or how big a reputation I get. I have a number of tasks to do, all of which I should like to do well. To be a failure in any one of them would be disappointing, yet I could bear that without whimpering if I were sure I had not failed the boy. Not as much of me in the bank and more of me and of my best in the lad, is what I should like to have to show at the end of my career. For me to succeed as a father, he must succeed. Unless my boy comes to manhood fit for the respect of his fellow men. I shall have been a failure. The glory of our handiwork lies not in ourselves but in our children."

        When Hannibal was born, his father, a pagan, took him to the shrine of his god and holding up his hands he prayed, "O god, make him a better man than his father was."

        Surely that is our prayer to our Heavenly Father and only He can do that. May He help us, as human fathers, to do what we can to make that prayer come true.