Fathers

Dear Dad: They Watch

Scripture: Matthew 7:7–12

Devotional:
Jesus didn't choose a king or a scholar to make His point. He chose a dad.

In just two simple questions: “Would you give your hungry child a stone? A snake?”Jesus painted a picture every father instantly recognizes. Of course not. Never. The very thought is absurd. When your child comes to you with a need, something in you rises to meet it. That's not weakness. That's not emotionalism. That's the image of God in you.

Here's the remarkable thing, Jesus uses your imperfect, stumbling, "evil" by comparison to a holy God self as evidence of the Father's goodness. Your love for your kids, as real and deep as it is, is only a shadow of how God loves His. If even you know how to give good gifts, imagine what the perfect Father can do.

Dads carry a lot. The pressure to provide, to protect, to be present, to have the answers. It's easy to white-knuckle through fatherhood, grinding forward on your own strength, while prayer becomes something you squeeze in rather than something you lean on.

But Jesus gives us three verbs here, and they matter:
Ask — Be honest with God about what you need. Your worries about your kids. Your shortcomings as a father. Your hopes for your family. He already knows, but He invites you to bring it to Him anyway.
Seek — Keep pursuing Him, even when answers are slow. Fatherhood is a long game. So is faith. Don't stop looking for His direction in Scripture, in community, in prayer.
Knock — Be persistent. Not because God is reluctant, but because the seeking shapes you into the dad your children need.

Notice that Jesus doesn't promise dads will get every specific thing they pray for. He promises that God gives good gifts, and that God's wisdom about what is good far exceeds our own.
Some of our most earnest prayers for our kids will be answered differently than we asked. A closed door might be protection. A hard season might be formation. A "not yet" might become the most important gift our children ever receive.

Trust the Father who loves your children more than you do.

Jesus closes this passage with the Golden Rule: "Do to others what you would have them do to you." After all that talk about fatherly love and good gifts, it's no accident that this verse follows. How you treat your children, with patience, generosity, respect, and grace, is a daily practice of this command.

Your kids are learning what God is like, in part, by watching you.

Reflection: What need, for yourself or your children, have you been slow to bring to God?   In what ways do you see your love for your kids as a reflection of God's love for you?   What is one "good gift" you can intentionally give your child this week that money can't buy?