A Godly Father’s Passion

Do you have a passion for something? What is it? Write it now in the blank: ______________. While I imagine that there were many answers that might not be easily predicted, we might be able to capture some if we guessed. 

People are Passionate About: 

• Nature & Wildlife
• Health, Fitness and/or Body Building
• Food
• Music & Art
• Literature & History
• Film & Video Games
• Football, Baseball, Basketball or Xtreme Sports
• Politics, Money or Pleasure

Let’s give this concept some thought from Deuteronomy 6. What is going on in Deuteronomy chapter 6? Let’s look closer so that we might glean the teaching of God’s Word. • Moses Tells them How to Live-out their covenant with God as this new generation prepares to enter the promised land (vs. 1-2)

• Moses is Speaking Primarily to Fathers as the Spiritual Heads of their Households. 

• Moses Outlines the Essential Points of Living Faithfully for God. 

Moses is careful to highlight the essence of living faithfully for God: Knowing Him as He Is; Loving Him With All We Are & Sharing Him with The Next Generation (Those We Love). Solomon also gave insight into how we begin to know and love God (Proverbs 1:7 & 4:1-5). 

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

So we see that fearing God includes loving Him.

Next, we observe that Moses commands godly fathers to: 

• Fear (vs.2)
• Keep (vs.2b)
• Hear, as in Believe (vs.4)
• Love (vs.5)
• Teach (vs.6-9)
• Remember (vs.10-12)
• Tell - Think Generationally (vs.18-23)
• Trust – (vs. 24-25)  

Most importantly, we see that Moses calls fathers to be courageous lovers of God (vs. 5). 

Does this seem impossible to you? Do you feel inadequate? Wives, do you feel for your husbands yet? Are you praying for them? Are you standing with his imperfect efforts to accomplish God’s calling in his life? 

Men, I am with you. When I consider the role that God has tasked us with my knees weaken; my heart trembles and my palms sweat! How is a husband and father to be successful in so great a mission? Where does he find the strength? The wisdom? The know-how? And the sheer fortitude to attempt so great a calling as to guide his wife, his children, his children’s spouses, and his grandchildren and possibly his great-grandchildren? Moses gives us the answer. God through Moses tells us exactly what we need to know here in Deuteronomy 6. 

Do you have a passion for something? What is it? Say it in your head right now. Meditate on Proverbs 3:1-7 in regards to your passions. 

Let’s say your passion is marathon running. When you are planning to run the next 10k what do you do? You eat right; drink right and you…well, you run. Your passion for the sport compels you to prepare and persist at it. Christ’s first call upon us is not to do the list that we mentioned earlier. When it comes to being faithful to the covenant, God was not expressing that all He cared about was His moral checklist. 

We must see this as a whole and not as a list. The commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul and all our might. The remaining instructions more or less explain how that is done. Moses’ message is like Paul’s in 1 Corinthians 13. All that we do should flow from our intense and passionate love for Jesus Christ. Know Him properly (vs.4) and love Him supremely (vs.5) and your life will begin to look more and more like this (chapter 6). 

Your passionate love for God is the key to power and perseverance. Study these passages and observe how God calls people to love Him and live for Him through all the trials and temptations of this life. 

• Proverbs 3:1-7; 4:1-5 cf. 1:7
• Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14
• Malachi 2:10-16; 4:4-6
• Matthew 4:4, 7, 10; 5:3-12; 22:34-40
• Ephesians 4:17-24 cf. 5:1-2, 10-11, 14-22, 25 cf. 6:4

Fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, what is the greatest thing you can do for your wife, children, grandchildren & great-grandchildren? “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” This is the single most important thing you must do for them. Loving Christ passionately and pursuing Him with all your mind and might trump everything! And comes before everything! It also empowers everything and defines everything!

• Your love for Christ will give you the mind and heart for being a man for God. 
• Your love for Christ will give you the strength to begin the race of manhood; continue in husbandry and finish the race of fatherhood! 
• Love for Christ will give us, as men, an understanding of the fear of God. 
• Love for Christ will give us power for hearing and keeping His Word! 
• Fervent, adoring love for Christ will motivate us as husbands and fathers to teach our wives and children and grandchildren!
• Devoted and determined love for Jesus will move us to remember how much He gave to purchase our redemption and to share it multi-generationally! 
• Our unwavering love for Christ will secure our trust that He is working always and in all ways for our good!

We are a band of brothers in Jesus Christ! We are in this together as husbands and fathers! We must be! We can’t afford to go it alone in this endeavor. We can’t lose another man! When we love God first we are freed and empowered to begin the life-journey of leading our wives and children in fearing, keeping, believing, loving, teaching, remembering, and trusting. 

How do we love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our might? 

• We fear the Lord, being careful not to render such reverence for anything else that might compete with Him. 
• We love God when we are careful to learn and take His commandments to heart and allow them to guide our lives. 
• We love God when we take the time to learn who He really is as He says He is in His Word. 
• We love God when we give Him our emotions; minds and our bodies. 
• We love God when we remember with warmhearted worship the sacrifice our Savior made for our redemption and share that with our wives, sons, and daughters. 
• We love God supremely when, in the face of fear and confusion, trust that all His ways are always good! 

If we say we love Christ and do not these things then our love for Him is weak, shallow, and questionable. 

Husbands, fathers & grandfathers – all boys and young men – what is the most important thing you can do, beginning this morning, that will set your path right; guide your decisions for the future, and empower you to lead others to Christ? Decide right now that you will give you heart; your mind and your life’s vitality to passionately, pursuing Jesus Christ as your God and King! 

Stop anything that gets in the way of this! 

Start anything that will push this love for God deeper, farther, and fuller than it is today!    

Love You All In Christ, 

Pastor Scott