Branching Out: The Official Blog by Renew International

A Father’s First Duty

Written by Peter Yaremko | Jun 19, 2016 11:00:27 AM

A father’s first duty is to protect his children. That goes for not only earthly dads, but for our Heavenly father as well. His embrace encompasses even those furthest from him.
 
This is why the words we hear most often in Scripture are “Do not be afraid.”
 
Many wonder why a loving God of mercy puts up with evil, why bad things happen to good people while the sinful often seem to prevail. The world is what it is, because God has created us fully free.
 
A Carmelite writer describes God’s mercy this way:
 
“It is like a declaration of love from God to humanity, to each one of us; it is a pledge of fidelity that is relayed from hand to hand, from heart to heart, and finally comes down to us.”
 
We, too, have to pay attention to these words. After all, Jesus was not one to talk for the sake of hearing himself.
 
Through the ages, God’s message to Dads remains, “Keep the mandate of the Lord, your God, following his ways and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances and decrees as they are written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in whatever you do, wherever you turn” (1 Kings 2:2-3).
 
Our prayer today:
 

Heavenly Father,
your mercy flows from age to age
like a river through time.
Bless our earthly fathers
as we celebrate them on this, their day.

 
Peter W. Yaremko, a former journalist, is the owner of Executive Media, Inc. and is a specialist in executive communications. He attends St. Peter the Apostle Church in Provincetown, Massachusetts and blogs at peterwyaremko.com/paradise_diaries.