Dad’s: I want you to think about your sons today… those future fathers of your grandchildren.
What kinds of battles are we preparing our sons for?
Read 1 Sam 17
I'm thinking of a young man that you know. The Bible calls him the man after God's own heart. We think of him as the great king... the giant slayer. But before all this, where do we find him? Maybe he's 13 or 15. Out in a field somewhere. Helping his father with the family business. Can you see him there? Out in the wilderness... It was probably pretty boring out there. Hours and hours of just you and the sheep...
Can you see him target practicing with his sling? Whittling with his pocket knife? Passing the hours in prayer and preparation. And then one day, from over behind some shrubs, a terrible cry. What's that! He crosses a ridge and there it is. A full size mountain lion. His teeth clutching a bleating baby lamb. David reaches for his sling, with two whirls, beans the lion right between the eyes... knocking him senseless. David runs over, snatches up the lamb from the predator, and just as he does... what does it say? The lion ROSE UP. Now can you imagine this angry lion rising up right in your face to deal with this little menace trying to steal his lunch?
And what did David do... he grabbed that angry beast by the beard in one hand... took his knife in the other hand... jabbed it into his neck... and cut him open.
Young men... I want to challenge you. I want to make you uncomfortable. I want to make you squirm a little. I want to motivate you toward maturity as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. Many of you will be fathers one day, and you are at a time in your life where God has blessed you with two great gifts. These two great gifts can work to your benefit, or they can work against you. They can serve you in bringing you closer to Christ… or they can serve you in fulfilling the desires of your sinful flesh. These two gifts are most powerful now, while you are young… and then slowly fade as you get older… and one day, you will yearn for them, but you’re the time of these gifts will be gone… never to return as they once were. Listen up young men. Consider my exhortations…
The first gift is the gift of time. You all have responsibilities and duties, but you also have vast amounts of free time that are available for you to use as you please. You may not see it that way… but it is a fact. You have T I M E. Time that can be used to fulfill the calling of God on your life… or Time that can be used to kick back and enjoy life. You are in a season that only comes once in your life. How will you use it?
The second gift, is the gift of energy. God planted in you a virtual powerhouse of seemingly unfading energy. An overabundance that only through thoughtful planning can you fully use. This energy, if left to itself, and not mastered, will absolutely reign in you, and will drive you in one of two directions of your own choosing. It will either draw you toward the things of God, or toward the satisfaction of your flesh. There is no middle ground. You can use your God given energy for good, or you can use it for evil. What will you choose?
Are you fulfilling your God given duty that God has called you to within your own family situation? Are you honoring your father and your mother by helping fulfill your family’s mission at home? Are you boldly taking ground from the enemy by seeking your brothers and sisters well being above your own comfort?
Do you strive to care for and protect the sisters God has placed in your family? Or are you too selfish to notice their needs? Do you have a private list of the ways you can help each of your sisters in their weaknesses. You have strengths that they don’t have, and you need to use those strengths to protect and nourish them. God says they are the weaker vessel. Are you too wrapped up in your own entertainment to notice that they have needs?
Do you see yourself as the important protector and provider for your own family some day? What are you doing to prepare?
When you approach a chore or duty, do you do just the minimal amount to get by? And then expect to have free time and play time? Do you put the same amount of care performing your chores as you do into your leisure activities?
Do you put the same effort into the things of God as you do in satisfying your fleshly lusts? This is really an easy accounting process… A simple list will suffice… Make two columns… on one side list the time you spend reading, studying God’s holy word, include prayer, meditation, and ministering to other believers and non believers in this list, also include parent given chores and responsibilities…
and on the other list these things: Playing outside, watching entertaining TV or DVDs, listening to Christian music or radio, practicing for sports, idle thoughts while driving or walking somewhere.
Where is your heart? What is important to you? We can tell by the way you spend your free time.
Do you have a goal for your life? Are you going somewhere? Or are you just getting by? Just responding to the punches life throws you, as they come?
Are you on a mission? Are you striving for something? Does your life have a purpose? Or are you just looking for the easiest route life has to offer?
Are you a man of God? Or a slave to having fun?
Are you serious about your life? Or are you consumed with the silliness of childhood?
Have you meditated on the verse that, you as a believer are in this world but not of this world? Or are you too consumed by fun and play to notice?
Do you consider the needs of others? Or do you only consider what others think of you?
Are you the first to volunteer for the hard and thankless job? Or are you the weak one that hides and hopes for the cushy easy job?
Are you alert to the things of God, or drunk on idle chatter?
Are your conversations with friends purposefully biblical? Or are they whimsical and frivolous? Without direction.
Do have a list of important things God has placed on your heart over the last week or so? Or are you just happy to have put in your 5 minutes of bible reading that morning?
Rise up young men! Don’t be satisfied with spiritual impotence in your life. Get a goal… get a purpose… get a reason to live... Follow the Lord because of what he has done for you. Wear yourself out on the things of God. Put behind you childish fun and games and get real. Live your life on purpose. Lead out in boldness and confidence, not looking back. Press on toward the goal that your heavenly father has set before you… do it with thanksgiving in your heart. Use yourself up as a willing vessel in His hands. Make your life count! -Scott Wilson
No comments:
Post a Comment