Lessons Learned from my Father-n-Law

I grasped a new revelation regarding the role of a father as Rev. Rufus Grant (pastor of New Beginnings Missionary Baptist) explained the difference of a hireling and a shepherd during Sunday service. Although, I have heard similar sermons about the “Good Shepherd” but today his message unfolded a new revelation from an unlikely Scripture. “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd.” (Numbers 27:16-17). This verse provides the necessity of a shepherd for the congregation likewise each family needs a shepherd to aid with the growth of the family. During his sermon, I thought about the role of a father like the Good Shepherd for a congregation. For instance, Rev. Grant listed five points in his comparison of a hireling:

     1. The hireling is a hired person who works for money. Hired individual only considers the gain that he receives during the course of his serving. 

     2. The hireling as a hired person lacks the value of working because his heart centers on the profitable gain of monetary value.

     3. The hireling runs away when the work faces opposition.

     4. The hireling lacks faithfulness if such service become unprofitable.

     5. The hireling seeks only self-gratification.  

Unlike a hireling, God places a father in charge of the family. Likewise, a father must value his role wholeheartedly. He must demonstrate an unwillingness to relinquish his family responsibilities despite oppositions. In John 10:12 (NIV), “the hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.” This Scripture reveals that a hireling runs away from the sheep when the wolf comes comparably a father faces the wolf unwavering while protecting his family with an attitude that he will lay down his life for them. As demonstrated in John 10:15… “I lay down my life for the sheep.” Since, the wolf symbolizes any issue that bring hard times, the father serves as the resilience for the family while each family member explores the various opportunities of life.  

Unselfish love drives the will of the shepherd unlike money for the hireling. The monetary profit for a shepherd generates an irrelevant commodity since a shepherd’s perception coincides with a heavenly outcome. Likewise, the father views his family through the eyes of love while making decisions from the heart instead of a selfish mindset. 

Ultimately, the father through love becomes the center of gravity that sustains a family for each member to live life fully and abundantly. So I encourage fathers to awake to this new revelation and fulfill your shepherd's roles in the family.