It was that great sage Willard Scott who observed… Time goes fast now doesn’t it?
Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids?
If you’re less than 10 years old, you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions.
“How old are you?” “I’m four and a half!”
You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. “How old are you?” “I’m gonna be 16!”
And then the greatest day of your life . . . you become 21.
But then you turn 30. Makes you sound like bad milk. He TURNED, we had to throw him out. What’s wrong? What’s changed?
You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40.
Before you know it, you REACH 50 . . . and your dreams are gone.
But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn’t think you would! You’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it’s a day-by-day thing, you HIT Wednesday!
Time goes fast, especially if you’re a dad!
Father’s Day occurs on the third Sunday in June.
The idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington. A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father’s Day while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909.
In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day.
Please hear me today dads… Fathering counts.
Dads you are remarkably important!
Listen to Paul’s words in the letter to the Ephesians, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise: that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”
Again, Dads you are remarkably important!
First, the role of the father is to connect with his God. To be a good dad, you need to be a good Christian! Seeking God first in your life is the most important thing a father can do!
Second, the role of a father is to connect with his family. The scriptures place the spiritual health and well-being under the responsibility of the father.
After this, it is the role of the father is to connect his family with the church! The result is that one will grow up with respect and reverence for the things of God.
Consider the last verses of the Old Testament… “And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” What an amazing statement! The way to avoid total destruction in a nation is for the hearts of the father and the children to come back together. The implication is that if this does not happen it will bring national destruction.
My friend Bob McEwen shared, “70 percent of inmates in juvenile detention centers, 72 percent of juvenile murderers, 60 percent of all rapists, 70 percent of all teenage births, 70 percent of teenage dropouts, 63 percent of youth suicides, 80 percent of prison inmates and 90 percent of the homeless.”
The one thing that all of these have in common — there was no father in the home!
Dad’s you are remarkably important.
Dr. Richard Land, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary pointed out, “41 percent of children today are born in illegitimacy and 55 percent will have lost their dad by the time they get to their 6th birthday. Boys without fathers in the home who are 12-22 years of age are 300 times more likely to get into trouble with the law. A father in the home is the single most determining factor of whether a boy will get into trouble with the law. Girls who have lost their father in their homes by their sixth birthday are five times more likely to become sexually active before they are 17.”
Dad’s you are remarkably important.
Edward Kruk, associate professor of Social Work at the University of British Columbia relates, “The future life chances of fatherless children are severely compromised, as in adulthood they are more likely to experience unemployment, have low incomes, rely on social assistance, remain homeless and lack purpose and direction.
Their future relationships are similarly affected, as they are more likely to enter partnerships at an early age, dissolve those relationships, have children outside marriage and become themselves absent parents. Fatherless children have a life expectancy that averages four years less than that of children with fathers present.”
Again, Dads you are remarkably important.
Charles Francis Adams, the 19th century political figure and diplomat, kept a diary.
One day, he entered: “Went fishing with my son today — a day wasted.”
His son, Brook Adams, also kept a diary, which is still in existence.
On that same day, Brook Adams made this entry: “Went fishing with my father — the most wonderful day of my life!”
Men, the greatest gift you can give your children is you!

Tim Throckmorton is the national director of Family Resource Council’s Community Impact Teams.