Jun 19 2009
My Father, My Friend
The world is vast, yet small in many ways. I simply have a tough time keeping my life organized because I am in a different country every month. I returned from the Democratic Republic of the Congo this month and I am scheduled to be in Argentina in July and Venezuela in August. In the meantime, by a wonderful miracle, I will be able to spend Father’s Day with my dad, Dr. Gordon Mathes, who lives in Memphis, Tenn. The miracle is I’ll be preaching on Father’s Day at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Tenn., less than 90 miles away from Memphis. What are the chances of that!
You see, my schedule is kept by 3, Rivers of the World’s (ROW) executive administrator, and she does a tremendous job looking after me. I just know she planned all this on purpose. No, not really!
However, I do know that the Lord has arranged it this year so that I can be with my earthly father while giving thanks to our heavenly Father on Father’s Day. I am just thrilled! I hope you will take the time to thank the dads in your life for loving, guiding and serving with you. Happy Father’s Day!
After teaching that there is no greater love than laying down our lives for our friends, Jesus says, in John 15:14-15:
“You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”
Many fathers take pride in teaching their children all that they know about life. As children grow and mature, often the father/child relationship turns into more of a father/friend relationship. If you didn’t have a wonderful, loving earthly father, you can still rejoice this Father’s Day because if you have accepted Christ as your Savior, then you have a Father who loves you dearly. Better than that, He calls us friends!