We closed our Father's Day Weekend services by asking the question, "What are you building, where are you giving the best of your time, energy, and efforts?" When we read 1 Kings 6:38 and 1 Kings 7:1, we find a striking contrast between the amount of time King Solomon invested in two of his most famous endeavors. He gave 7 years of his life to build a temple for God, but he gave 13 years to build his own palace. May the balance of our life's investment as men and fathers weigh heavily on the side of building something for God and not for ourselves.
So this morning we continue to look into Psalm 101 for some practical steps we can take to ensure we are building a God honoring life as men and fathers. Yesterday we introduced the first three of the six vows King David made before taking the throne, presenting them as challenges to ourselves: be expressive, be authentic, and be sexually pure. Here are the last three...
Be restrained. In verse four of the hundred and first Psalm, we are reminded that being in control of ourselves is an absolute necessity. The Apostle Paul often returns to the theme of self control in his epistles, two references that come to mind are Romans 6:12 and Galatians 5:23. In his letter to Christians in Rome, he gives them a command, to resist sinful desires, to refuse to be controlled by sin. I love the pairing with Galatians 5:23 because we are reminded that we are actually made for excess, our capacity for excess is God given! Here in Galatians at the end of the list of fruits of the Spirit, evidence of the Holy Spirit in us, we are told there is no law against these...permission for excess! Leaders, especially in the home, who are improperly restrained in sinful pursuits tend to compensate by being overly restrained in virtuous pursuits. Shame and guilt hold us back, robbing us of the liberty we should feel in being excessive with honorable traits. Godly restraint is a gateway into a life of God honoring excess!
Be fraternal. Several verses encapsulate this vow, specifically verse 3b and verses 5-7. 1 Corinthians 15:33 couldn't be more clear, "...bad company corrupts good character." Deep relationships that are uncomfortably intrusive should first be observed by children as they watch their fathers. We has men tend to isolate when we are struggling with sin and in so doing, we further corrupt ourselves. This principle found in 1 Corinthians 15:33 still holds true because in isolation, we are now our own bad company! You show me any leader who does not have people in their life to hold them accountable, people to whom they defer, and I will show you a leader who is failing. Fathers, who are those men in your life...if you can't list anyone, begin the work of building those relationship, both for your sake and everyone depending on your leadership!
Be missional. This is this closing challenge found in verse eight. In 1 Chronicles 22:5 and 1 Chronicles 29:1-3, we find the extent to which King David went to help prepare his some Solomon for the great works he would endeavor to accomplish. You and I may not ever have the material resources David had to give to Solomon, but I would like to suggest to you that the most valuable inheritance we could ever hope to leave our children will be the 24 virtues we are studying together in our current sermon series! Virtue is the currency of The Kingdom! Destinies are fulfilled not because of earthly treasure! In Luke 12:15, Jesus compels us to remember that our lives are not measured by material possession. We have a mission, time is short, and evil must not win...let's leave our children coffers filled with virtue!
I hope you will pledge with me as a father, as men, to be expressive, authentic, sexually pure, restrained, fraternal, and missional. Let's lead well together the domains of influence entrusted to us, no matter how small or how vast, a God honoring life that is life giving to everyone around us!
Pastor Fred
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