Another Fathers’ Day has come and gone. The day is always a mixed bag for me. On one hand, I don’t know what is like to have an earthly father to celebrate. On the other hand, I’m thrilled to be my daughter’s daddy.
In my line of work, I get to meet a lot of daddy-less children. My goal is to communicate with each one of them about their Father in Heaven who loves them so much that He sent His one and only son to live a perfect life, die on a cross and to be raised again to life so that we could live in eternity with Him.
There are challenges with this. Many of these children know their father to be a violent person, a person in jail, a person dealing with alcohol or substance abuse and some don’t know their father at all.
The concept of father is tainted for many children and with the term “baby daddy” used to describe a father who isn’t committed to a mother (and therefore the family), the concept of a real daddy gets tainted as well.
We might as well call an uncommitted father “Birth-Man”. I think this will clear things up rather quickly. If a male parent is uncommitted to their family, they are the Birth-Man, the male person listed on the birth certificate as the father. If they are committed to the family by supporting them financially, they are to be called a Father. If they are committed to the family by supporting each mother and child financially, emotionally and spiritually, they earn the name Daddy.
Whoever is responsible for adding Holidays to the calendar can add two more. Birth-Man Day and Daddy’s Day.
Birth-Man Day won’t be that exciting. I don’t see Hallmark really banking on this one. Father’s Day could stay as-is, a general appreciation for what Father’s do.
Daddy’s Day should be electric. I see it as a day where men who truly value the nourishment of their family on all levels can show off a little bit. It can be a day where they demonstrate service to their wife and children. It can be a day where they put all other things aside and communicate with each child how important they are. It can be a day where they model to their children how they are content with the daily bread God gives them and how they don’t need to be fulfilled by anything else.
Daddy’s Day will be so great it can be put on the calendar 365 times. It will also be a great reflection of our Father in Heaven who allows us to call him Daddy.
God is referred to as “Abba” in scripture several times. A word study on the Abba reveals it to be a term of intimacy with a father, relative to words we know today as “daddy” or “papa”.
Here are some reassuring verses on the best Daddy we have as Christians.
“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” – Psalm 68:5
“Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?” – Malachi 2:10
“And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.” – Matthew 23:9
And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” – Mark 14:36
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” – Romans 8:15
“Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” – 1 Corinthians 8:6
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” – Galatians 4:6
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” – Ephesians 1:3
