“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, o lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

Psalm 19:14

Every Father’s Day I am caused to reflect on my wonderful heritage of growing up in a small community in Northern Newfoundland. I think of how tough and hard it was for men to provide for and raise their families. But raise them they did by God’s grace and help. I reflect on the great faith they had in their God. They were able to proclaim, ``I know who I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day. ``(2 Timothy 1:12). They made a contribution. They left us a legacy worth emulating.

Here’s a quote of unknown origin that speaks of a father’s contribution, One night a father overheard his son pray: “Dear God, Make me the kind of man my daddy is. Later that night, the father prayed, Dear God, Make me the kind of man my son wants me to be.”
Let us think of the contribution that some of the spiritual fathers made to society. The ones I mention are fathers that Bible speaks of prior to the Exodus.

Enoch: The name Enoch means dedicated. Enoch stands out as one who walked with God. The Bible also says that Enoch pleased God, so much so, that God took him straight to Heaven without experiencing death. He was a great witness for God. The book of Jude speaks of him as prophet preaching to the unbelievers of his day about God’s judgement to come. We need some modern Enoch’s.

Noah: The name Noah means comfort. That is very ironical because the message that Noah brought was far less then comfortable. His message was a message of death and doom. In a world where depravity was so evident Noah’s life shone with righteousness. He stands out as one persistent in his faith, and God could depend on him. Hebrews 11:7, by faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. Our world needs modern Noah’s.

Abraham: The name Abraham means the father of many (of the faithful). The mention of Abraham is so important because he was chosen by God to become the father of a new spiritual people.

Let this stand out about Abraham, he was a great spiritual leader. Here’s what Hebrews 11:8-10 says about Abraham, By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

We need some modern Abrahams.

And so we turn our hearts toward home on this weekend dedicated to honouring fathers. May all fathers of our day leave a legacy that our children and grandchildren will be proud to emulate. In one way or another we are making a contribution.

`God of our fathers, whose almighty hand leads forth in beauty all the starry band; our grateful songs before Thy throne arise.

Amen!

Major Harvey Compton is the interim commanding officer and pastor of the Salvation Army’s Thompson Corps at 305 Thompson Dr. N.