“For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.” Genesis 18:19
As an individual, God knows you. As a husband and a father, God knows you. God, talking about each of us, says: “For I know him…” The statement sounds very confident. There is no ambiguity or confusion about it. God firmly states about each of us, “For I know him…” He completely knows you and He completely knows me.
“What more can I say, you know WHAT I AM REALLY LIKE, Sovereign Lord.” 2 Samuel 7:20 NLT
He knows what you are REALLY like. Beyond your friendly smiles and mild hospitality, beyond your façade, God knows what you really are and what you are really like.
Look at Abraham, God said He knows him. He went ahead and testified about what He knows Abraham can do. Can God testify well about you?
As a father in that same house you live, including your wife and your children, what does God know that you can do? Can you SLAP your wife ‘once in a while’ if she provokes you too much?
Can you treat her anyhow you like (after all you’re married and she can’t afford to leave your house)?
Can you quarrel with her and while sleeping on the same bed turn your back to her?
Can you keep secrets from her and go into business plans and agreements she is unaware of?
Do you constantly argue with her before your children or visitors?
Can you shout at her to ‘shut up!’ any time you feel she is saying ‘rubbish’?
If you can do any of these, God says about you “For I know him…”
Unfortunately, it is not a good thing for God to know any man that way.
He said about Abraham “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him and they shall keep the way of the LORD…”
God knows what this man can and will do even before he had any child! God knows this man will be godly influence over the life of every child he has and over everybody in his household. His wife will be under subjection (not because he ‘panel beats’ her face), and his children will respect, regard and honor him.
What does God know you will do when you give birth to children?
Are you the one who will be in the fore front, teaching them to spend more time with unedifying programs on TV rather than spend time with God?
“…He will command his children and his household after him…” Did you see that? He can only command them after he himself is doing it.
You cannot lead people from behind. It is only ‘after him’ that they can appreciate walking with God.
Is your wife more spiritual than you? If yes and you are presently doing nothing about it, I pity you. Very soon her prayers, Bible Study, fasting, fellowships and so on will soon start irritating you (and you will not know that Satan is now using you to fight yourself – because your wife is your own flesh (Ephesians 5:28-29).
“…And they shall keep the way of the LORD…” The word ‘they’ here is very significant. It reminds me of the declaration of Joshua. He said “…But as for me and my house, we shall serve the LORD (Josh. 24:15b).
You see, it is a very great responsibility to be a man.
God is saying, apart from you as a man, everyone under your roof MUST BE GODLY and it is your duty as a man, as a father, to show them the way of the LORD.
“And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again.” Deut. 6:6-7 (NLT)
After God asked for our own wholehearted, unswerving loyalty and commitment, we were instructed, not just to talk to our kids once in a while about God’s righteous laws, decrees, orders and statues. Instead, God’s express command to us as fathers is to “…repeat them…” to our children.
Since God knows that even repetition could be at random, He orders that we must repeat godliness and the revelations that we personally have about God “…again and again…” to our youngsters just as Abraham did.
If we do this, God testifies that “…and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment…”
Our children will walk in and live in the actual way God had stipulated. They will live each day pleasing God and they will be mighty arrows in His hands.
“…That the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him.”
If we are truly desirous of God’s blessings and favour; if we want God to crown our every effort with outstanding success, we must first be willing to be the type of father God wants us to be. To run around ‘trying to make ends meet’ and trying to make enough cash so that we can raise our kids well will all become effortless once we refuse to do this more important thing first.
The first form of leadership any child will experience will be the leadership of his father and several of us fathers are not leaders IN ANY WAY! Yet, God’s will is that a man and his house will live and lead godly lives, but a family can only do this ‘after’ the man’s personal example.
“Your part of the agreement,” God told Abraham, “is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility.” Genesis 17:9 (NLT)
Sir, are you a father indeed?
