My team, the New York Giants, decided to not even show up for the playoffs this year. Oh, the Super Bowl was in their stadium, but sadly there was no blue and white on the field. I was expecting a "gunfight at the OK Corral" kind of game. It was more like only one guy showed up with a gun. Odds makers were predicting that Denver was going to win by one point. They lost 43-8.
Denver Broncos defensive end Shaun Phillips managed to emerge from that blowout a winner. Where it really counts I mean. See, Shaun texted his son Jaylen and said, "Sorry I let you down." His son's answer changed everything. "It's OK daddy u r still my hero." Perspective. Wow! Playing in the Super Bowl - big accomplishment. Being a super dad - that's the biggest victory a man can win.
And suddenly, Shaun was reminded of where putting points on the board matters most. He told his son, "Well, at least we get to hang out now." That little exchange on Super Bowl Sunday is a message for every one of us that someone calls dad.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Game That Matters Most."
You can be a hero "on the field" - whatever your field is - and be a zero at home. But if you're a hero at home, you can weather the blowouts in the other parts of your life.
My son tells me, "Dad, it doesn't matter how crazy my workday has been, I walk in the door of my house and five minutes with my kids reminds me what really matters." It's true! I smiled when he said that. He and his siblings did that for me more times than I can count.
Of course, some dads come home to just another battlefield. But the man of the house has more effect on the climate of that house than anyone else. Beginning in the Garden of Eden, God has held the man ultimately responsible for what happens in his family. It's a classic case of "a man reaps what he sows."
That's our word for today from the Word of God, Galatians 6:7, "A man reaps what he sows." If you sow unselfishness, you'll start to reap unselfishness. If you sow "I come first," you'll reap a family of people who are all about themselves. The homefront harvest of stress or peace, of harshness or kindness, of criticism or encouragement? So much of that depends on the seed sown by dad. That's why the Bible warns fathers to "not embitter your children or they will become discouraged" (Colossians 3:21). And it says, "fathers do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4).
I came to realize that I was the thermostat in my family, setting the temperature; my wife was the thermometer, reflecting the temperature I set; and my children were the seismograph, registering every disturbance.
Clearly, the central arena of a man's best efforts is to be in his home. No amount of applause, awards or accomplishment outside your family can begin to compensate for losing at home. And the weight of that life-shaping assignment - with so much potential for being life-scarring instead - has driven me to seek outside help from the God who told us to call Him "our Father."
It was being a husband and being a dad that showed me that I am not enough. My family had needs I couldn't meet because I hadn't figured out how to meet those needs in me. That the things that troubled me in my kids mirrored my own weaknesses. My own baggage. My own sin. That's when the word "Savior" becomes intensely personal. I need a Rescuer from the dark side of me that God calls sin. A dark side that becomes a spreading infection when you have a wife and you have children.
So I reached out to Jesus and I grabbed Him like a drowning man would grab a rescuer, because (as the Bible says) "the Lord Jesus Christ...gave Himself for our sins to rescue us" (Galatians 1:3). And there I found that this self-centered sinner of a dad could become what the Bible calls "a new creation in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:17). With God's power, anyone can win the game that matters more than any other - winning the hearts of the children that He gave you.
If you've never begun your relationship with this life-changing Savior, for your sake, for your family's sake would you open your heart to Him today? I'd love to help you get connected with the life-changing power of this Jesus. So I hope you'll join me at our website www.ANewStory.com. It could be the beginning of a new story for you and for those you love.
I can testify to the fact that when I lay my head down to sleep at night, I have the peace of GOD within me so that I where HE IS, there I may be also!
Like the Psalmist, I shall fear no evil, for HE is with me! As Paul said, to be absent from the body is to be present with the LORD!
In a moment, in a twinkling of an eye those who have placed their faith and whole trust in JESUS alone will be with HIM and SEE HIM face to face, worshiping HIM and Praising HIM for HIS great LOVE FOR US for all eternity!
What a GRAND and GLORIOUS day that will be.
I can hardly wait to leave this world behind and go to where HE is and has prepared a place for me!
Blessed be the LORD, forever and ever, amen!
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