FAITH:Imitate Your Heavenly Father!

Ruth Graham spoke at her father’s funeral last week in North Carolina. Her first marriage ended in divorce. Ruth was introduced to a wealthy widower shortly after her first marriage ended. Her father, Billy Graham, urged her to slow down the relationship. Others gave her the same counsel. Ruth refused to listen. She remarried and within twenty-four hours of her marriage she knew she had made a terrible mistake. Ruth said, “It is one thing to embarrass your father. It’s another thing to embarrass your father when he is Billy Graham!” Ruth drove home to see her father. She was unsure of his response. Ruth said that when she pulled into the driveway her father was waiting for her. Billy Graham ran up, gave her a big hug and kissed her. There was no condemnation and no rebuke. What an amazing father!

We need to imitate our heavenly Father. The Bible commands us- if we are Christians- to imitate God. Children often want to be like their father. Ephesians 4:28 reads, “Let him who steals, steal no longer but rather he must labor with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” The context of this passage is imitating our heavenly Father. Ephesians 4:28 provides two directives for you and me.

First, we must embrace the value of hard work. We are commanded to labor with our own hands. The word labor means “to work to the point of exhaustion.” God works hard and so must we! Genesis 2 tells us that God worked for six days and rested on the seventh day. In John 5 Jesus said, “My Father is working until now.” In the fourth commandment God says, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work….”

The greatest example of working hard in the New Testament is the Lord Jesus. Jesus began His public ministry about the age of thirty. From age twelve until about the age of thirty Jesus worked as a carpenter. In Mark 6:3 the people said, “Is not this the carpenter, the Son of Mary?” The word carpenter means craftsman. It is a broad word in Greek. It may mean that Jesus was a stone mason or a wood worker. Justin Martyr lived in the second century. He wrote, “When Jesus was among men He made plows and yokes and other farm implements.”

The German people are known for their work ethic. Martin Luther said, “Your work is a very sacred matter. God delights in it and through it He wants to bestow His blessing on you. The world does not consider work a blessing. Therefore, it flees it and hates it. But the righteous who fear the Lord labor with a ready and cheerful heart for they know God’s command and will. Thus a righteous farmer sees Psalm 128:2 written on his wagon and plow.” Psalm 128:2 says, “When you eat of the fruit of your hands you will be happy and it will be well with you.”

We must imitate our Father by working hard. Second, we imitate our Father by working for the right reasons. There are many reasons in the Bible to work hard. We work to provide for our needs and the needs of our family. Ephesians 4:28 says, “…but rather he must labor with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” We must work to give to others. Our God is very generous. He works hard to provide for people. 1 Timothy 6:17 says that “…God supplies us richly with all things to enjoy.”

In Matthew 5:43 Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and (the Pharisees added) hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your Father.” Jesus continued, “For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

We are to work hard (even to the point of exhaustion) not just for our own families but also for the benefit of others. Don’t be a taker. Be a giver. We must be generous just like God is generous with us.

Romans 2:4 says that the goodness of God should lead us to repentance. When we see the goodness of God we should turn to Him in repentance and faith. In Acts 17 the apostle Paul reminds us that God “gives to all people life and breath and all things.” God works hard to provide for us. He provides the sun, rain, land and crops. Therefore, we must turn to His Son Jesus for salvation! What an amazing God we serve!

Pastor Ethan Hansen

Faith Bible Fellowship

Big Lake, Alaska