Daily devotion – Thursday 20th May 2021
1Sa 2:12 Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the LORD.
Eli was the priest at Shiloh who became the custodian of the child Samuel. He was the father of Hophni and Phinehas. Eli’s sons, under the poor leadership of their father Eli tragically grew up NOT knowing God!
I attended a Church as a small child where there was a genuine absence of men. It always left me wondering why the Church was only filled with women and mainly at that time women of considerable age. Where were the men?
Seventy per cent of all prisoners come from fatherless homes. Eighty per cent of all rapists with anger problems come from fatherless homes.
Seventy-one per cent of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes. Sixty-three per cent of all teen suicides occur in homes where the father is either abusive or absent. The figures of failure and destruction go on and on. Where were the men?
Has much changed today – take a quick straw poll at Church attendance and see whether women still dominate the men in numbers and faithful attendance?
Examine Church prayer meetings and scan who the mainstay of the prayer ministries are in most Churches – still with the women.
Where are the men?
Yet as families fall apart around them and before them – I still see men missing in action instead of leading in the action!
I have been involved in the AFL system for some 21 years now, and whenever a team is fumbling the ball consistently, not making the grade, losing more than winning, it is not the players who are sacked, it is always the coach!
The coach is held responsible for the way the team plays, wins and competes.
Dads, fathers, how is your team going? In other words, how is your family of which you are the head, the God-given (Coach) travelling?
Because the responsibility rests with you!
Are you the one who leads in Bible reading in the home?
Are you the one who leads in family prayer at home?
Are you the one who leads in ensuring your whole family is in Church?
I see far too many Australian men missing, not IN action but missing from the action!
There is no greater responsibility to a man than when he marries and leads his family, and God will hold every one of us accountable.
The tragedy is that the victims when a father or husband goes missing are those closest to them.
Are you an Eli or are you an Abraham?