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By Myrtle V. Thompson

Today is Father’s Day! None of us would be here without them — and our moms. The Creator God made both of us, and I would hate to see what people would put together if they had done it. We are all unique, each of us different from the other, yet with a likeness God said was in His own (Genesis 1:26.) What an amazing thing!

That meant freedom, power, a will to do and the privilege of love and intimacy — all that and so much more, attributes of God Himself. It was to Adam, the man, that God gave the authority and commands for what He desired and planned for His newly created earth. Maybe something like today’s chief operating officer of a large company, if we take the liberty of putting the thoughts in today’s language. God the Owner and Creator was putting His “staff” in the Garden to care for His creation, and Adam was given the privilege of having the first view of it.  All was in place, the lights and water turned on, everything ready for the new occupants.

Since we celebrated Eve at Mother’s Day, we will leave her out of the picture and focus our biblical attention on men as fathers, created in the image of God with ability to work, to love and to worship. We know they failed and so do we, but we also know because of His love we can find God’s forgiveness and His restoration when we ask Him. For that, we give Him praise and thanksgiving this Father’s Day.

It is said there are 70 million dads in the United States today. President Wilson in 1916 was the first to call for a day to celebrate fatherhood. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge urged the state governments to honor the day, and there were others who urged us to remember fathers for their role in our lives. Let’s enjoy this special day and do “homage” on their behalf.

I went to the Bible, the “source book,” to get some more information. Genealogies are biblical reminders of how civilization progressed. Abraham was told he would be the “father of many nations.” Moses met with God on the mountain and received the Ten Commandments, one of which was “Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long on the earth…” There were father/son duos that ruled, like King David and Solomon, both writers who left their mark on us with a lot of wisdom and inspiration, David in the Psalms and Solomon who wrote in Proverbs, “A wise son makes a glad father” and “the glory of sons is their father.” We know it certainly should be! Job said he had been a “father to the fatherless.” That meant an outreach to precious little ones who needed help and attention. I am sure there are fathers today who do the same.

Isaiah reminds us “God is our Father…” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said we are to “glorify our Father in Heaven.” We do that when we pray the Lord’s prayer, “Our Father Who art in Heaven…” In Ephesians, Paul reminded fathers not to provoke their sons to anger but to bring them up in the admonition of the Lord. All this and so much more to remind us to remember our fathers on this special day!

Myrtle V. Thompson, 93, is a retired missionary, Bible teacher, educator and writer. Email her at  mvtgrt@gmail.com.