First of all, Happy Father’s Day to you dads who have taken your role of being a father seriously! It takes guts and sacrifice to be a good dad. In fact, fatherhood is something that is passed down from father to son, or it is imparted by the Lord Himself to the man who seeks the Lord and desires to walk in His ways as a father. It can even be imparted by another man who walks in a fathering role.

Let me share a few thoughts about fatherhood. As a healthy mother awakens the heart of the child to nurture, so a healthy father calls the child into destiny. I find it very interesting that in the Bible a larger percent of men were called into their destiny not by their biological father but by a man who stepped into the role of being a spiritual father. Elisha received the mantle of Elijah, which released him into his destiny as a prophet of God. 2 Kings 2:11-13 tells the story of the closing moments of Elijah’s life saying,

Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan.

Elisha called Elijah, “My father.” Moses was a spiritual father to Joshua. David was anointed and called into his destiny by Samuel the prophet instead of Jesse his dad. James and John were called into their destiny by Jesus instead of Zebedee their father. Paul was a spiritual father to Timothy and to Titus. My own destiny in Christ was released through Jack Hayford instead of my dad.

Part of the reason for this is that when God calls someone, He needs to impart His Spirit upon them through a mature man of God. The son in the faith needs the Spirit of God imparted to him through a man of God or father in the faith that carries the Spirit of the Lord and who lives a life consecrated to God.

It’s God’s way, and it works. It’s God’s way of fathering.

A blessed son,

Roger