"And He will turn the hearts of the Fathers to their Children"

We are studying through the book of Luke together at church, and we came to the description of John the Baptist in chapter one. One of the things that would be true of him is that he would turn the hearts of the Fathers to their children. As I thought about this, I asked myself how much my heart is toward my sons. My deepest desire for them cannot be that they would excel in sports, or that they would be successful in finances, or that they would have an easy, problem free life. My deepest desire for them has to be that they would know and love God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength. That I think is the definition of a Father whose heart is toward his children. I want to be that kind of Father, and Christian Fathers should be leading the way for our culture in this area. But sadly, we’ve failed. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 24 million children in America - one out of three - live in father-absent homes. As agents of reconciliation, Christian fathers have to start following in the footsteps of John the Baptist, and be the kind of men that cause other fathers to turn their hearts to their children, and off of themselves. This is one area that Christians have failed in affecting their culture in America. I am praying and crying hard out to God this week that my generation, that are mostly new Dad’s, would have their hearts toward their children. Maybe Dad’s reading this blog could do the same! Instead of wanting to be honored this Father’s day, maybe we should honor God by pleading with him to give us grace to love our families well, and be men that turn other Dad’s hearts to their kids!