A Fathers heart!

Much is said of fathers in the bible. Fathers are good providers,  Luke 11: 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Fathers correct and discipline their children Proverbs 3: 12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. The Lord also becomes the father of the fatherless which means that the role of a father must be important in a person’s life. Psalm 68: 5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

So if the Lord Himself has to become a father to the fatherless, it means that the heart of a father  should reflect the heart of the Lord. How careful fathers need to be!

Lets have a brief look at an example of a father in the bible.

Most of us know the account of Jacob and Esau. Rebekah the mum helped Jacob deceive his Dad and he took away Esau’s blessing. The account can be found in Genesis 27. The bible does not tell us how Isaac their father responded after he found out that he was deceived. We do not know how he responded to Rebekah and Jacob. We must also remember that while Rebekah instigated the whole thing, Jacob could have said no to his mum, this is wrong l will not do it.

However one thing is certain, after all that, Isaac still blessed Jacob again.

Genesis 28: 1 to 6

 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

2 Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughers of Laban thy mother's brother.

3 And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;

4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

5 And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

6 When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughers of Canaan;

Isn’t that amazing!

If the Lord is a father to the fatherless, it simply means that a father’s hearts represents the heart of the Lord. This does not mean fathers permit anything, but with one hand they discipline and with the other hand they love.

After all Jacob did, deceived his father and stole his elders brothers blessing, Isaac his father still blessed him again!. I am not saying that Jacob did not pay a price for what he did, yes he did as he had to leave his home for many years neither am l saying that what he did was right, The point is, his father still loved him.

Are you a father? Ask the Lord to help you be the father you need to be.  A true fathers heart represents the heart of the Lord. Every ready to forgive!

"By Bisi Oladipupo"