“Honor Thy Father”

By:  Pastor Milton Coats

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Exodus 20:12 says “Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”

One of the greatest honors that can be bestowed upon a man is the title father.  A father is a life source.  You cannot dishonor a life source and be guiltless.  Our prisons are filled with young men and women who didn’t honor life, their neighbors, their teachers, their spiritual leaders or their parents.  They didn’t honor government, or laws or the rights of spiritual life.  The end results, people become incarcerated.  This is not just in a physical prison, but in a spiritual maze, unable to release themselves.

We are guaranteed a long and blessed life if we honor our natural parents, the source of our earthy existence. (Ephesians 6:2, 3; Deuteronomy 5:16).  Regardless of the circumstance surrounding our conception, wanted or unwanted, left on doorsteps, model parents or abusive, we are still obligated to honor them.  We may not agree with everything they say; honor is still required.

Beyond our natural fathers, there are those with the spirit of a father in the kingdom of God who we are

also required to honor.  There are fathers in the faith.  These are ministers through which we first came to saving faith in Jesus Christ.  I Corinthians 4:15 says “For through ye have ten thousand instructions in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.”

Also, there are spiritual fathers, your model for spiritual things, those whose spirit we have caught.  In II Timothy 1:2, Paul writes “To Timothy my dearly beloved son”: grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Jesus our Lord.”  Paul was Timothy’s model for ministry whose spirit he caught.  Spiritual fathers guide you in the things of God.  They always point you towards the authority of the Word of God, by the Spirit of God and the work of Jesus Christ.

Also, there are fathers in ministry.  They help position us in our respective callings and mold us for kingdom service.  They are sounding boards for decision making.  Fathers in ministry offer practical wisdom and help you apply what you know to achieve God’s purpose for your life and ministry.

Lastly and certainly not least, those of us who have embraced God the Father as our Father must not forget to honor him.  God the Father said in Malachi 1:6, “A son honoureth his father and a servant to his master; if then I be a father, where is mine honour?”

Honor thy Father and be blessed! Happy Father’s Day!