The father as a Farmer:
Submitted by
Charles Abiahu on the Occasion of this years Fathers Day Celebration.
Imagine for
a brief moment that our world is a vast farmland and you have been called among
others to be one of the stakeholders. A
child is your gift of a lease of a portion of the earth to reproduce not
according to your ability but to the best intentions of the owner of the land.
Now stop imagining it because God is the owner of the farm and we have all been
gifted with different seeds of children to reproduce according to his direction
and specifications.
Every child
will need to be nurtured, watered, trimmed, hedged and sometimes pruned to
flourish. At other times we will need to contend with the flood, the weed,
birds of air and surely wild animals and pests in order to keep our seed from
being swallowed up. This is why the most important duty of a father is to be
present at all times and during all seasons of importance in his child’s growth
circle. Being involved in your child’s life is the most important validation
you can give them about reproducing in the image and likeness of Jesus Christ.
Will you be present when your son needs instructing and when your daughter
needs a listening ear? Will you lead the way when they are at the crossroads of
life? Loving our children is the best fertilizer they need to flourish but
every good farmer knows the season to apply this important ingredient and that
too much will kill the plant. A father must apply love and discipline as the
occasion demands and with the best intentions for achieving steady growth and
maturity.
The difference
in the quality and quantity of produce between farmers is determined by their
respective quality of labor and toil. This is why one farmer has barely enough
to eat, another has enough to feed his entire family and the other produces
enough to sell. We must seek out the best education and other resources that
will impact the life of our children positively. We are called to immerse and
hedge them with the word of God to prevent them from being swallowed by the
vagaries or vicissitudes of life and living. Luckily, every tool we need is
within our reach … We water them daily by our character, our temperament and
attitude towards others. And we tend them by the words of our tongue. Our hand
is the rod of correction and our tongue is the sharp sword of Praise or Rebuke.
Both the rod and the sword are necessary tools for discipline or edifying but If
you are not careful with your tongue you could break the tendrils or even
uproot the plant. This double edged sword is only to be applied with prudence.
When in doubt about what face of the sword to use, apply caution. Prayer is the
best caution available to us. Never discipline with anger or curse your
children in an emotional outburst because you will reap whatever you sow. God
never makes a mistake but it took several generations and even the best seed of
God, Jesus Christ to create a pathway for
mankind to return to the farmland. Many of us have condemned the destiny of our
children by being brash with our tongue.
As fathers
we are called to provide the best farming environment for our children to
thrive. Every child has a destiny and unique assignment ordered by our maker.
Do not force them to be an extension of your lost dreams or hopes but offer
them the tool for achieving and perfecting their missions in life. In this vast
farmland Christian fathers must also be their neighbor’s keepers. The quality
of your produce will be affected if every farmland around you is fallow and
swarming with wild plants, thorns, pests and weeds. Soon they will creep into
our portion of the land and make our work harder or infect our crop. So, we
must reach out to every abandoned boy, every little girl in despair and every
child that has no sense of direction in life and validate them. Luckily again,
all every child need to thrive and excel is a little love and care and we have been freely gifted with an
abundance of it by our maker. When you
counsel an abandoned boy you water his spirit with new hopes and new dreams;
when you encourage a wandering little girl in despair, she finds herself and
lifts many more others beyond their personal imaginations. When we extend love
and care to every child we build a community of champions. A simple impression upon any child that “I
know you can do it” or other similar validation of their effort stirs up the
best passions and can often be the difference between mediocrity and a
resounding success.
But yet, our
job as fathers is not complete. Our work in this farm of life is hindered if
our helpers feel unhappy or unwelcome. Our wives must know that we will not
abandon the farmland when the terrain is rough or the season is dry. Our wives
and their labor must be appreciated to give their best. Our children are also
looking to how we treat our wives for their best instructions on how to treat
their helpmates when they acquire their own farmlands. We must reach out to
every widow or abandoned wife or they will produce weeds or thorns that will in
turn corrupt or stunt the growth of our plants. Many of the complaints we have
about our helpmates in this vast farm of life is only a manifestation that our
neighboring farmer abandoned the farm too early or is lazy or did not do a good
job at all with his seed. An ill-equipped or untrained worker will not be very good
helpmate. Let us break the circle and heal our wives with love and praise,
understanding and reassurance. This way we will have the perfect helpmates and
we will have a vast community of Godly Children. I have heard many times that
children do not come with an instruction booklet. Actually, God has given us a
Manual and how to use it to become successful farmers …
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in
thine heart:
7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and
shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by
the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
