WHAT A BELIEVING DAD DOES - Volume I Issue 12

 What a Dad Does

⁵ In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. ⁷ But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

⁸ Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, ⁹ according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. ¹¹ And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. ¹⁴ And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. ¹⁶ And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,  ¹⁷ and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."

¹⁸ And Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." ¹⁹ And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.  Luke 1:5 – 20 (ESV)

As you know, these familiar verses are often read during the Christmas season because they are the beginning of the story of the birth of our Savior.                             

But have you ever thought about Zachariah as a dad?  This passage explains that both he and wife Elizabeth “were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.”  He wasn’t just your “run of the mill” dad….he was a “godly” man BUT he didn’t believe God’s specific word to him.  Even godly dads sometimes fail to believe God. 

Has God given you a specific rhema (word)?  Has He spoken to you about children you are to sire or devotions you are to lead or forgiveness you are to ask, etc?  Is there any word of God that you’ve not believed?  It’s not enough to just go to church, be a cheerful dad or even be a godly man….we’ve got to believe God…we need to believe everything He tells us. 

Years ago, after we had four children, God challenged me to believe His Word in Psalms 127:3…..that children are a ‘gift and reward’ but I didn’t believe Him.  I thought four was enough…I believed the world and instead of God….”it costs $222K to raise one child, not including college http://tiny.cc/ymf52”…..” children are little rug rats”…..”they just tie you down”….”always discipline problems”….”won’t have enough love to go around”…. etc.  I cried out to God, “help my unbelief” and He did.  He kept after me and wouldn’t let me sleep until I believed…. most of you know, we went on to have nine children and now 17 grandchildren (with more on the way)….and I’m so glad I believed.  This was one of the many times that God challenged my beliefs.  Hebrews 3 & 4 relates all the grief that came upon the children of Israel and the reason they had to wander in the desert for 40 years was, "they were not able to enter because of unbelief.”

Our beliefs are influenced by “the world, the flesh, the devil (I Jn 2:15)” or God’s Word….Dad, who are you going to believe?

This Christmas let’s learn a lesson from Zachariah.  Make a decision to believe God.  We must not only believe that Jesus is the Son of God but each specific rhema He gives. 

THIS IS WHAT A BELIEVING DAD DOES!