The Legacy of a Godly Dad - Part A

This is the greatest priority for any person. And certainly for any father. Love your God personally. This is the first essential to successful fathering.

And it's basically this. Every earthly dad should be connected to his heavenly dad. Influence is critical. Others influence our lives.

And we have the power to influence others. Connect with Skip Heitzig today as he shares how you can make a positive impact on those around you, including your children. But before we begin, if you love Bible study, a trip to Israel is a life changer.

Your Bible study will never be the same. Skip has lived in Israel and led tours many, many times. Here he is to invite you on his next tour. You know, there's always something new to see and experience in Israel. And I'm so excited to let you know that I'm taking another tour group to Israel next spring in 2022. You're in for an incredible time as we travel throughout Israel and experience the culture that's so unique to that country. We'll start on the Mediterranean Sea and head north, seeing places like Caesarea and Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. We'll spend several days in and around Jerusalem and see the Temple Mount, Calvary, the Garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives and much more. This remarkable itinerary is made richer with times of worship, Bible study and lots of fellowship. Now, I've been to Israel a number of times over the years, and I can honestly say that visiting the places where the events of the scriptures unfolded, where Jesus lived, taught and healed, it just never gets old. I can't wait to see you in Israel. Start planning and saving now to tour Israel with Skip Heitzig. Information at inspirationcruises.com slash cabq. That's inspirationcruises.com slash cabq. Now we'll be in Deuteronomy chapter six for today's study.

So let's join Skip Heitzig. When we had Mother's Day, I told you how it was founded. It was discovered by or thought up by a woman on the East Coast in Virginia. Same with Father's Day.

It was invented by a woman on the West Coast up in Washington state in 1910. Her name was Sonora Dodd, and she wanted to especially honor her father. She felt like he deserved to be honored because her father raised six children as a single parent. And in those days, that was just monumental. In any day, that's monumental. So he raised six children, and she wanted to honor him and that caught on and became Father's Day.

So we're grateful to her. Now I can remember back in the 1960s when there was a series on television. The actor's name is Robert Young, and he played, somebody's picking up on this. He played the role of Father Knows Best. What a title, right?

You would never have that title today. Father Knows Best. And what is interesting about it, I didn't think of it then as a kid, but I think back to it now. And the reason it was so odd, different, is that Robert Young, the dad, was always pictured with a sport coat or a suit, white shirt, and a tie at home. So he's sitting in his chair at home, dressed like that. He's at the dinner table with a tie.

He's like in the garage with his tools, got the tie on. That's the father. They were trying to portray the ideal father. His wife was always nicely dressed. She was making cakes and cookies, and the house was spotless all the time.

This is just such not reality, right? And whenever there was an issue or a problem, Robert Young, the mother would say, because the dad's at work, don't worry, your dad will be home soon. He'll fix it. He has the solution. And he always did have the solution. He always did fix the problem.

He applied such wisdom. And so imagine having a weekly show that everybody tuned into called Father Knows Best. That is not the TV way dads are portrayed today. That was the way they were portrayed in the 50s and 60s. The TV dads were pictured as heroes, leaders, guides.

They were admired. These days, the TV dad is clueless, irresponsible, and more like an additional child. He's made fun of a lot. He's not the brightest bulb in the pack. You know, he's just a dad.

He just does these things. I think it's safe to say that the family is under attack today. I know that's a phrase that you have heard me say.

In fact, I'll tell you the truth. I've said that sentence for 40 years, and every year it's been true. And today it's truer than ever before. It is worse than ever before. And that is because the family has been redefined in our culture.

You don't believe me? Ask your kids. If they go to public school, they're going to be told this is what a family is. It may consist of a father, mother, and children.

Or it may consist of two men and children, or two women and children. All of those are perfectly normal, healthy families. Add to that the reinforcement that comes from the media, and it's hard for kids to survive. Because the media, you can't find a movie that doesn't portray a homosexual in it, or a same-sex relationship that is exonerated, or a traditional family that is dissed in that movie. The scene is outdated and dysfunctional, made fun of. So a kid growing up these days, with that exposure, sees the family, defines the family in very nebulous terms. Not the concrete father knows best, not the concrete Bible one man, one woman, etc.

That may or may not happen, but that's so passe. Now we can't just blame the media. We can't just blame the school system. There's plenty of bad examples of dads out there to reinforce it no matter where you look. And my mind goes to a very famous example, one by the name of Bill Cosby, who was nicknamed America's favorite dad. America's favorite dad. And he even wrote a book called Fatherhood, and it happened to be an excellent book.

One that I read a few times and quoted from a few times, because it was so good. The problem, of course, as you know, is that Bill Cosby is in a state penitentiary. He's in Pennsylvania in a prison, because he was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman. And so he's serving prison time for that.

Since he was convicted and put in prison, 50 women, 5-0 women, have come forward and said he did exactly the same thing to them. Now, those may just be accusations, and it could just be that one, but that's the example of America's favorite dad. So it's safe to say the family is under attack, and one of the biggest crises in our country that assaults the family comes from fathers, and it's called fatherless families. It is of epidemic proportions.

You think the pandemic was bad? Get a load of these statistics. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one-fourth of America's children grow up without a father, 25%. It is estimated that 33% of children that are born are born outside of a marriage. Now, that's 33% not including cities. If you go into big cities, almost every big city in America, 50% of children born are born outside of marriage. And if you think that is not a problem, understand this. 85% of those prisoners who are incarcerated grew up in fatherless families. Everybody knows this is problematic.

Everybody knows that this is a crisis. There's a great organization that has served those in prison for years called Prison Fellowship. We've worked with them.

I've known leaders in that organization, including the founder. And Prison Fellowship ministers to prisoners behind bars and to their families to get them support and get them adjusted and get them through that. And every year, they pass out cards to the prisoners to send their parents on Mother's Day and Father's Day. So they hand out a stack of Mother's Day cards for free. Whoever wants them, they hand out Father's Day cards for free.

Whoever wants them. In just one prison in California, on Mother's Day, there were a thousand requests for cards to send to mom. Happy Mother's Day, mom, from prisoners, a thousand.

On Father's Day, in the same prison, there were six requests for cards to send to dad on Father's Day. Now, before you get too nervous, this is not about parading father failure this morning. This is really about joyfully and unashamedly raising the banner of biblical fatherhood and saying that by God's grace and by His Spirit, we can do this.

Nobody's going to take away my shot. You know, I got one shot at this life and I'm going to step up to the plate and by God's grace, we can do this. There's an old saying that says it only takes a few minutes to become a father, but it takes a lifetime to be a dad. And I want to show you from Deuteronomy chapter 6 how to be a dad. Three simple principles, not easy, but simple. Now, what it means to be a good dad, I want to give you three directives. These are just sort of general directives for this Father's Day meditation. And they're pretty simple. Love your God personally, learn the truth inwardly, and lead your kids diligently.

If we could do those things, we'd be further down the road than most in our country. So let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 6. We'll begin in verse 1 for that first directive, love your God personally. Now this is God speaking through Moses to the children of Israel. Now this is the commandment and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded you or commanded to teach you that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing to possess. That you may fear the Lord your God to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you and your son and your grandson. So I'm giving this command to you and your son and your grandson.

It's generational. All the days of your life that your days may be prolonged. Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, I want the best for you, that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you, a land flowing with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Here it is, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Now this has been called the cornerstone of Judaism. This is so embedded into the psyche of every Jewish person and Orthodox Jews to this day believe that reciting this, especially verses 4 and 5, reciting this twice a day is their sacred duty. It's called the Shema. And that is because the first word in verse 4, notice, is the word here. And in Hebrew it's Shema.

Shema Israel Adonai Elohenu Adonai Echad. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And that's so sacred that is recited by an Orthodox Jew twice a day. Now that is followed by in verse 5 a command.

Here's the command. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. Do you know that Jesus quoted this as being the greatest commandment of all? A lawyer came to him and said, what's the greatest commandment? Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6, love the Lord your God.

He kind of modified it a little bit with all your heart, mind, soul, strength. But then he said, the second commandment is like it, quoting now Leviticus, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On this hang all the law and the prophets. So this is the greatest commandment. What that means then is this is the greatest priority for any person and certainly for any father. Love your God personally. This is the first essential to successful fathering.

And it's basically this. Every earthly dad should be connected to his heavenly dad. Every earthly dad should be connected to his heavenly dad. The Lord God must first be the Lord your God before he's ever going to be the Lord their God.

If you want the Lord to be their God, your kids, your family, he's got to be the Lord your God first. Moreover, this love for God isn't just a casual, yeah, God and I, we talk every now and then, you know. We're on good terms. He hears from me on the weekends. Now this kind of love, notice, should be an all-encompassing, supreme love of your life. Love him with all your heart. Love him with all your soul.

Love him with all your strength. Now if you don't mind, I'm just going to pick those apart and give you the words and the meaning. The word heart in Hebrew is the word lev. And the heart speaks of the mind. In fact, it's often a synonym for the mind. It's funny because I hear people, you know, kind of talk about, you know, it can be in your head, man, but it's got to be in your heart as if the mind is competing with the heart.

In the Bible, it's the same. The heart is your thoughts. It's your cognitive abilities. It's your ability to process thoughts.

It's your will. That's the love. That's the heart. Followed by the next word, soul. Different word in Hebrew, nefesh.

And that refers to the emotional part of you, the inner self where you experience emotions. And then the third word, strength, is the strangest word of all in the Hebrew text. Because though it's translated strength here, it's a word that is very rarely used in Hebrew as a noun. It's usually used as an adverb. And it's the word me'od in Hebrew, which literally means very. It's a modifier, very. So if you want to say very good, you say tov me'od. That's literally good, very, but that's how they talk. Or if you want to say pleased to meet you, it's na'im me'od, right, very pleased.

So the word is very, me'od. So it's literally love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and with all your very. So I'm bringing that out to just show you this. The idea of it used that way is this. It speaks of the idea of your power or what your life produces. It's the oomph in your life.

It's what your life produces. It could speak of your profession, your influences. It could speak of your finances, your possessions. That's your strength. So your heart, your soul, your very, your strength.

But rather than looking at them individually, I think it's best to view them collectively. I think it's simply a way of saying love God with an all-encompassing, wholehearted love. In fact, there's one translation of this that I think really captures the thought.

It's called the Message Translation. It says, love God, your God, with your whole heart. Love Him with all that's in you. Love Him with all you've got.

That's the idea. Love the Lord your God with all you've got. So this is Successful Parenting 1A. Be connected to the Heavenly Dad.

Love the Lord your God. You know something I have noticed over the years? I've been around a few years. I've pastored a few years.

I've talked to a lot of different people. I've heard sometimes I hear people say, yeah, yeah, we just had kids, and we sort of figured we don't go to church, but we just figured now that we have kids, we should expose them to Sunday school. So we're coming to church for the kids. It's always good to come to church, and it's always good to think about your kids, but I have a better approach than waiting for your kids before you go to church. Do it first.

Do that now. Be committed in your heart wholeheartedly now before you have children. Be connected to God in a vital relationship now first. I love how Paul writes to young Timothy in the New Testament, and he says, The genuine faith which dwelt first in your grandmother, Lois, and in your mother, Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. So we love to dedicate your children. We do.

It's an honor for us. But we also want you to know that we want to make sure you're dedicated to the Lord first before we dedicate your children to the Lord. Listen to the wise words of one of our previous presidents, Abraham Lincoln, who said, For a man to train up a child in the way that he should go, he must walk that way himself. Good wisdom. You can't pass on what you don't have.

So that's first. Love your God personally. The second is learn the truth inwardly. Love your God personally. Now learn the truth inwardly. Build on that.

Grow in that. Look at verse 6. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

Stop there. Just that verse. Look at just the sixth verse. These words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

What words is he talking about? Well, this is Moses speaking. God is speaking through Moses to the children of Israel. It's the book of Deuteronomy.

The book of Deuteronomy is sort of a recap of all the law that was given in the first four books. So Moses is an old dude at this time. He's got the children of Israel in front of him. He's rehashing. He's recapping. He's going through. You'll see verse 1.

Let me take you back there. This is the commandment. These are the statutes and the judgments. It encompasses all the truths that God has revealed so far in His Word to them. So then verse 6 shows to us what our relationship is to be to the truth. So with both of these directives, one follows the other. See, if you're going to love the Lord your God, then you're going to love what the Lord your God says.

That makes sense, right? No, I don't ever read that Bible. Wait a minute, do you love God? Oh, I love God.

Really? How can you love the Lord your God if you don't love what the Lord your God has to say to you? So one follows the other. These words which I command you today shall be in your heart. See, the first is to assimilate the truth inwardly before you disseminate the truth outwardly. It becomes a part of you, the truth, the Word. Your relationship with God is directly proportional to the revelation of God.

They both work together. Now let me just, let me reinforce that with some different texts of Scripture, really briefly. Psalm 37 describes the righteous man by saying the law of God is in his heart. Psalm 40, I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart. Psalm 119, Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You. Colossians chapter 3 verse 16, Paul writes, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. All of those is the truth of verse 6. These words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

That's Skip Hightake with a message from the series Now Streaming. Now we want to let you know about a resource that helps you dive even deeper into God's truths. Here's what Norm Geisler said about the book Tactics. There is no better book to equip Christians to think clearly. Here's Skip Hightake on the need to engage in active spiritual warfare. You'll never fight God's battles from a sofa.

You'll never contend for what really matters by just cruising in your lazy boy all day. You're going to have to decide to get up as part of the house and join the fight. Become a contender for biblical truth with Fight for the House, a six-message series through the book of Jude with Skip Hightake. This teaching series on CD equips you to get in the ring to defend the gospel and guard against false teachings. And it's our thanks when you give to connect more people to the truth of God's word. And when you give $35 or more today, we'll also send you the book Tactics by Gregory Kochel to help you speak the truth about Christianity with confidence and grace.

Call 800-922-1888 to give or visit connectwithskip.com. Did you know there's a great biblical resource available right at your fingertips through your mobile device? Skip has several Bible reading plans available in the YouVersion Bible app. You can dive deeper into several books of the Bible to gain new insights.

Just search Skip Heitzig in the YouVersion Bible app. And be sure to come back next week as Skip Heitzig shares how you can live diligently to inspire those around you to follow Jesus. Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection. Connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.