Theme of the Week: Godly Men Are Protectors
Bible Verse: “If one person sins against another, God can intercede for him, but if a person sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” 1 Samuel 2:25 ESV
Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 2:22-26
I once went looking for positive examples of fatherhood in the Bible and was surprised by how few I found. Take Eli as an example.
Eli had some things going for him. When his sons abused the sacrificial system and turned the tent of meeting into a brothel, Eli pleaded with his sons to change their ways. He did the right thing by speaking up.
But Eli could have done more. He could have removed his sons from their positions. It seems that Eli didn’t fully guide and discipline his sons while they were under his authority. As a result, his sons both died (1 Samuel 4:11).
As Dale Ralph Davis writes, he was willing “to tolerate sin, to allow God’s honor to take a back seat, to prefer ‘my boys’ to ‘my God.’ For Eli, blood was thicker than fidelity.”1
I’m old enough to know that, when it comes to parenting, there are no easy answers. But guys: step up. Do everything you can to protect your kids from threats to their souls. Encourage them to follow God, and love your kids well by loving God more.
1 Davis, Dale Ralph, 1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart (Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2000), 36.
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