I know that we celebrated Father’s Day on the third Sunday of June, but my heart keeps taking me back to this special day. This was both Joane’s and my first year without our dads. My dad went to be with the Lord on August 8 last year and Papaw (Joane’s dad) saw Jesus in person on January 11 of this year. There is a huge hole in our hearts, but we have the comfort of knowing that soon we will be reunited with them.

Some people say that any man can be a father. They say that it is a job that takes little talent. Yet, when we consider the failure rate, we realize more men fail at this task far more often than any other occupation. Being a good father is the most important task a man can tackle because it reaches so many generations.

I know here are many women today who are raising children without a dad in the home. Most of them are doing an excellent job, but every kid will tell you that they want Daddy to help them with many things. They want to talk with him about manly things and see the world through his eyes. I find that even worse than a home without a father is a home where the father fails to fulfill his God-given role. I believe there are three main fatherly duties that every dad should work hard at achieving.

First, I believe the role of the dad is to be the bread-winner for the family. Everyone knows that one of the greatest needs of the home is material need. It is the father’s job to “bring home the bacon”!

I find most older dads greatly succeeded in this area. I see some of today’s dads feeling great about themselves if they can stay home and have moms go out and work. When this happens, I know that a family breakdown is about to happen in most cases. A man finds his identity in what he does and his masculinity suffers when he no longer accepts this responsibility.

One of the dangers I see today is that many fathers provide beyond the family’s needs. We often set the material standards so high, overemphasizing money’s importance, and leading his children to want and expect more than they need. I know that many grade school kids have more than thirty pairs of shoes! A wise father does not infect his family with the love of money, which will always bring many sorrows!

Remember, a father’s relationship to his family symbolizes Christ’s position with His people! We as dads must represent God to our families. Having given life to our children, which one day will end, we should provide them the opportunity to accept the gift of eternal life from their Heavenly Father.

Dads, often we talk about providing “quality” time with our children because we do not have “quantity” time. Most kids will spell love from dads like this: “TIME!”

Secondly, every dad must protect his family. Most dads provide physical protection. I know of no dad who, were someone to enter his house and try to harm his children, would not give his life fighting for them. This sense of duty seems engraved into every dad’s nature.

But, physical dangers are not the only threats to our families. Do we set limits on television viewing, internet surfing, and video game playing? The eternal enemy of our family has set his eyes on your children and desires to mess up their lives from an early age. When we read the statistics on child abuse, we realize we have an enemy who wants to destroy all children. We need to be careful to keep our kids away from dangerous teaching. We need to teach them to respect their mothers. We need to train them to honor authorities. Holy Scripture teaches that we must train our children in the way they should go. Recently, I heard about a dad who took his preschool child to Wal-Mart and taught him how to steal a toy. That dad has instilled in his son a desire to steal! I know of dads who watch porn with their boys and teach them how to “hold their liquor”! Some dads believe in teaching their children how to “swear like a sailor”! Dads, wake up! Protect your children from everything that can harm them in life!

Thirdly, every dad should pray for his children. God can do so much more to help your kids get through life than we dads could ever accomplish. I know that I need God’s help – the task of being a dad is bigger than I can handle – so handle this “daddy job” with a lot of prayer! If we take our kids to every sporting event in the country, if all the amusement parks are visited regularly, and our kids are the school’s stars, but we leave out Jesus, we have failed as a dad.

Every dad and every child will one day stand before God. Dads, I encourage you to help those kids you truly love to have a glorious entrance into the Father’s House!