I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, it is the 16th of June, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. I want to start by wishing all fathers a very Happy Father’s Day. Dads, well done for looking after your families.

We go straight to the Book of Matthew 2:14:

“When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt,…”

So often, dads get overlooked. Now you don’t hear much about Joseph, but I want to tell you, Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, our Saviour, had a very important job to do. First of all, the Lord told him to name the baby, “Jesus.” Yes, that is right, Joseph actually named our Master, “Jesus.” He is the one that put the food on the table, he looked after that young maiden and her baby, and was a carpenter by trade. He was very sensitive to the Holy Spirit. He was warned in the middle of the night. The Bible says, he arose and took the young child, Baby Jesus, and Mary, the mother and he departed for Africa. That’s right, I am talking about Egypt. He stayed there until the Angel of the Lord said, “You can now return to Israel.” He was a good father, he protected his wife and his child. He was sensitive, caring, responsible, obedient and protective. 

It reminds me, if you go into the bush, to a game reserve, and you see a pride of lions. Often, you will see the male lion. He will be sitting under a tree by himself, and all the cubs and the young lionesses will be playing together on their own, and it will almost look like he is uninterested, but he has a vital role to play. The hunting gets done by the females, and when they make a kill, who gets the first share? Yes, the male, he comes in and he eats. He has to be strong. I want to tell you something, without a male lion in a pride, that pride is vulnerable to the hyenas or to other lions. He has a vital role to play but you don’t always notice it. The same thing happens with dads. They sit there quietly and the children say, “Why isn’t dad participating?” Maybe dad is thinking about how he is going to put food on the table or about the future of his family.

Please moms, children, give dads plenty of love and respect today. He is doing a great job. He is the father of your children, mother and he is your dad, and you have got his surname. Just love him and treat him with lots of TLC today.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.