The Henry Institute has a new essay up on the importance of fathers in all of our lives. It is well worth a few minutes of your time. Very sad, but necessary for us dads to hear and reflect upon. Here is a small portion of it, but please go read the whole thing.
God has put in every human heart a gnawing need to look someone in the face and say, “Abba, Father.” He’s put in every human soul the need to hear the words, “You are my beloved child and in you I am well pleased.”
My father always was there, and still is. Maybe that wasn’t the case for you. Maybe your father left early on in your life. Or maybe he was there, but you remember his feet walking out the door each day for a life-sapping job, his feet propped up on the couch each night in front of some life-sapping television. Maybe you miss your Dad. Maybe you hate your Dad.
In any case, all of us have found ourselves snuggled up to a mannequin. We’ve constructed idols, covered in the scent of Deity, that give us an illusion of the protection of a Father God without his presence. Some of you may still be living that illusion.
Our adoption by Father God meets and exceeds all our earthly longings and expectations of parental joy and approval.