Finding DadSample

My dad spent over half of my adult life on a state-sponsored vacation granted to him by a judge.  I can remember turning 16, buying my first vehicle, and driving it to the jail so that I could tell him about the new whip, a 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass.  I went through security, sat down in a plexiglass booth, and picked up the phone to tell Dad about my new ride.

One of the times he got out, I took the same vehicle to pick him up from the hotel where he had been dropped off.  We drove around, ate cheese enchiladas, and bought some supplies at the store.  When we pulled back into the hotel parking lot, I finally decided I was going to do it.  Looking into his eyes, I choked up and said, “Dad, why?”  He paused for a moment as tears streamed down his cheeks.  My dad was 6’4”, had a ponytail to the middle of his back, and a beard to the middle of his chest.  Alphas like my dad didn’t cry.  But this time was different.  He wiped the tears, reached around to the back of my head, and pulled my forehead to his lips.  Through tears, all he could say was, “I love you, Son.”

My dad didn’t know it at the time, but he was giving me what I believe every one of us desperately needs – the blessing of a father.  In Jewish culture, the blessing always came from the father.  Sons didn’t leave home, buy property, or get married without the blessing of their fathers.  Abraham passed the blessing to Isaac, Isaac to Jacob, Jacob to his sons, and so on.  When Jesus was baptized, the Father declared, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased.”  Their future was wrapped up in the blessing of the father.

Consequently, we’ve got a group of people running around today with no future because they don’t have the blessing of the father.  Yet what the devil meant for evil, God can use for good.  Jesus didn’t come to replace the role of the father; He came to redeem it.  You may never receive the blessing you long for from your earthly father, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend your life without a future.  Jesus has come to place that blessing upon us.  Receive the blessing of your Father today!