The legacy of a nation is the legacy of its family and when the family breaks down, everything that is built on that sacred foundation falls down with it.
If you look about you now, we are reaping the “rewards” of family disintegrate. We are living in a day where the norm is not to see the parents married to their original spouse.
We are living in a day where the kids are bounced from house to house for their turn with mama or daddy. We are living in a time when kids are raising parents rather than parents raising their kids. The Bible speaks of this in the book of Isaiah
Isaiah 3
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
4 “I will make youths their leaders,
and the unstable will govern them.”
5 The people will oppress one another,
man against man, neighbor against neighbor;
the youth will act arrogantly toward the elder,
and the worthless toward the honorable.
The reason that we are seeing this happen is the same reason that it has happened before. Look a bit further in Isaiah chapter 3
8 For Jerusalem has stumbled
and Judah has fallen
because they have spoken and acted against the Lord,
defying His glorious presence.
9 The look on their faces testifies against them,
and like Sodom, they flaunt their sin.
They do not conceal it.
Woe to them,
for they have brought evil on themselves.
Today in this great country abortions are preformed every single day at a rate of 1 every 26 seconds, the people have forgotten what it means to blush, and they flaunt their sin into the face of a God they no longer believe in.
Who dad, who is responsible for this result of where we are now? Us. The dads. The spiritual leaders of the house that have either backed down from our job, or never knew the job qualifications, or knew the qualifications and just did not care. But there is a new day dawning men and it’s time to do something about it!
If you keep reading through Isaiah, you will come to the part where Isaiah takes responsibility to do something about the way things are. He says five words that change everything.
Isaiah 3
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:
Who should I send?
Who will go for Us?
I said:
Here I am. Send me.
Here I am. Send me.
I am not perfect, I make mistakes, I will stumble, but here I am, send me. Dads, this needs to be our mindset for our family. Your wife needs you to be there, to stand in the gap, and declare that no matter what happens in the house, you are there. Your kids need to know beyond any doubt that you have their spiritual back, and that can only be done by a dad who is training and teaching them.
Here I am.
That can be hard sometimes. Here is a personal example. In my job, I have recently been asked to assume a temporary duty of state construction engineer/assistant state engineer. In taking this job I would receive a temporary pay raise and earn about $2,000 over the next four months when you add up everything.
That sounded great at first. Then comes the other part of you will need to be here three days a week. I would have to do one of two options of either driving six hours round trip three days a week or spend the night one or two days a week. Both options would leave my house in a place where I am not here. I would have the ‘send me’ part down, but not the ‘here I am’.
Although this would be a great opportunity for my career, I did not take it. Because my first and foremost job in life is that of dad. My second is that of children’s pastor, and taking this opportunity would also stretch me rather thin in that area. The primary place of a dad is at the home, not the office, not the gym, not in a video game, not the ball field, not the golf course, it is home!
Send me.
Send me to do what? Your job at home is to teach your kids diligently!
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
4 “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.
5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.
7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
8 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead.
9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
It is the responsibility of the dad to make sure that your kids know who God is. We are to saturate the lives of our kids with Gods words, his actions in our lives, how he leads us, and how he sustains us daily. You may say “Steve, this was never done with me. I don’t know how.” Well good thing you are reading this, because here is a list to start with.
- Pray for your family
- Study God’s word
- Share God’s word with your family
- Pray as a family
It’s not easy men. It is a change that will rock you to the core if you have never done it before. It is also something that will effect your kids for the rest of their life in a positive way.
You must remember, God placed you as the head of the house, you are given the responsibility of what happens in the house. So stand up and say here I am, send me. Just let the first place you go be your own house!
I’m just a Husband Of A HomeSchooling Mom,
Steve Blackston