06 14 07 Be-getting or For-getting

“For though you may have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, because I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
(1 Corinthians 4:15)

Borrowing from Pastor John MacArthur (www.gty.org ,“How to be a spiritual father”, June 14, 2007), living fathers are to be reproducing, or begetting offspring. Life reproduces life, according to its own kind. We fathers have a choice to make. Will we concentrate on begetting offspring, or find ourselves forgetting our offspring?

The New Testament Greek word gennao means to bring forth, or in one instance, in James 1:18 (“He gave us birth”) apokueo, to generate. Christ gave us a new birth, regeneration through His blood. As a father (and mother of course) gives birth to a child, we should be prepared to put the time in to nurture and care, and provide all that child needs to have a full life, including our presence in that child’s life. I am so proud of the many fathers I have witnessed spending time with their families: they go on field trips, coach ball teams, teach Sunday school, and even home school their children! My dad was tremendously involved in my life and it still impacts me today. In fact, I remember him changing jobs just to be home more often and sacrificing to provide a safe and secure home life.

Spiritually speaking, how many of us men have spiritual children? “What is that”, you ask? Very simply, it’s a young person we have led to Christ, beginning with our biological children of course! As we share the Gospel with them and they profess a knowledge of Christ as Savior, they have new life. Who will raise them? Who will feed them? Who will guard them from the wolves? We need to keep a special bond with those we have led to Christ and be willing to walk along life’s path with them, father to son, parent to child, teacher to student. We hurt when they fall short; we rejoice as they grow; we disciple (discipline) along the way; we love throughout the journey.

Are we begetting for the kingdom, or forgetting out of selfishness or laziness? Don’t give up Dads. It’s worth the struggle and sacrifice. I’m so glad my Dad did it! Our kids will one day remember the sacrifices we make. I know one thing for sure, God, my DADDY, will never forget. Only what we do for Him will be remembered in eternity anyway!