BIBLICAL FATHERHOOD--THE GREAT NEED OF THE WORLD 11h) THE SHEPHERDING FATHER IS A "HERE AM I" FATHER.

Men, as fathers we must make every endeavor to make ourselves available to our wife and family, for they are our flock and we are their shepherd. How tragic it is when a son or daughter says, "I do not really know my father." Or, "He was never there for me when I needed him." This should never be the case amongst Christian families.

How wonderfully secure are the sheep and lambs who can say, "My daddy is always with me, especially when I need him." The absentee father is one of the great tragedies of our society and has greatly weakened this generation. It is essential for us to see ourselves as true father/shepherds who will always be interested and available, as much as possible, to our own flock. We must never become too busy doing our own thing, taking care of our own interests, and neglecting the thing which is most important, and that is, to be an available father.

I love what Abraham said to his anxious son, Isaac in Genesis 22:7, "And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son." Men, we must be "Here am I" fathers. Far too many sons and daughters are crying out and needing their fathers to answer their deep anxieties. Yet, many fathers cannot say, "Here am I." They are too busy doing their own thing.

Down in New Zealand when we looked for a job we looked in the newspaper under the column, "Situations Vacant." Unfortunately, many homes across our nation, even Christian homes, have a "Situation Vacant" problem that needs an available father to apply for the job!

Let's read Ezekiel 34:2-4, "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them."

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell