Each day is like a miniature lifetime. The sunrise each morning is a symbol of birth and new life. Birds begin singing to welcome the new day and some flowers, like the morning glory, open in the morning when the sun comes up. The morning is when we (hopefully!) feel rested and strong and ready for the day’s tasks. And the light that comes with the dawn of each new day is a reminder of God’s light that he has shone into our hearts. “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). Without God’s grace revealed through Jesus Christ we would be stuck in the dark night of sin’s power. But through the grace of Jesus Christ, God gave his light to us and we are born again. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” (1 Peter 1:3). Let each sunrise be a powerful reminder that God has given you new life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

The sunset each evening is a symbol of the end of life. Morning glories close their petals, birds find their roost, and we feel tired from the day’s demands and activities. After dark we lie down and drift into unconscious rest. Nightfall is a daily reminder of the reality that we will all one day face death. With the advent of electricity, technology has mostly conquered the night, but remember that for most humans throughout history, there was very little they could do to change the thick darkness that nightfall brought—they had at most perhaps a small lamp that gave a little light. Even with our technology, the night still represents the unknown, something that we cannot see past. And night is all the more frightening if you must face it alone. It’s much better to have a friend with you. Let each nightfall then be a reminder that you dare not face death and eternity without Christ. And let it be a sweet reminder of Jesus’ promises and presence in your life, Christian. You know your Lord; you know your destiny.

One day, when we are with the Lord, there will be no more night. We will live with the Lord forever, in one eternal day. John tells us “And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 22:5). But until then, each sunrise and each sunset is a lesson: a reminder of the new birth we have in Christ, and a reminder of the coming night that we no longer fear because we have Jesus with us.

In the market for some real estate? Looking for somewhere to call your new home? Let’s take a spin around town and see some of the best properties for sale. After a quick tour of the properties you can decide which one you’d like to call your new spiritual home. Let’s start our tour at the center of town where two roads meet. We’ll take the one on the right first—Love Street. The houses on this road are nice, spacious homes. They have very beautiful yards and the wide front porches look inviting. The homes are very attractive, but when you get out of the car and inspect the houses for yourself you begin to notice that something is not right with these homes. The walls are not straight, and the corners are not square. Light switches turn on lights in other rooms, and water faucets are not connected to the water. The oven and dishwasher are stacked where the washer and dryer should be, which are in the kitchen where the oven and dishwasher should be. You quickly realize these homes are beautiful, but not functional. 

We return to the town center and take the other road—Truth Avenue. You eagerly begin inspecting some of these homes to see if they are functional. To your delight, everything works properly and they are all built exactly to code. Everything is square, light switches and faucets work, and appliances are in the right place. But these homes have a different flaw. Clearly, no effort was made to make these houses beautiful. They look grey, cold, and lifeless. The yard is full of gravel, and the house is boxy and drab on the exterior.

You hurry back to the center of town, disappointed in the houses that are beautiful but not functional and functional but not beautiful. And there on the corner of Love Street and Truth Avenue, you see the perfect house. It is both functional and beautiful. It has the best qualities of each of the other houses without the flaws they suffered from. Clearly, this is a beautiful home that was built with much care and hard work.

As Christians, we must build our spiritual house on the corner of Love and Truth. It is possible to prioritize one to the exclusion of the other. If we accept a watered-down definition of love and de-emphasize truth, we are like the houses that are outwardly attractive but not built according to the proper standards. On the other hand, if we staunchly emphasize truth but forget to be loving, we’re like the other houses. Yes, they’re “built the right way”, but who’d want to live there? It’s not right to emphasize love to the exclusion of truth, but neither is it right to emphasize truth to the exclusion of love. Paul told the Ephesians that growing into Christian maturity involves “speaking the truth in love…” (Eph. 4:15). Never let go of truth and never let go of love. We need both.

To all the dads reading this, happy Father’s Day! One of the many things that the Bible teaches us about God is that he is our Father. As our Father, God does many things for us. Christian fathers strive each day to be more godly and provide for his family and his church the things that God provides to his children. Here are three things that God gives us and that Christian fathers strive to give to their family.

First, God provides protection. While he does not shield us from every harm or inconvenience, he is nevertheless a shield around us (Ps. 3:3). He surrounds his people (Ps. 125:1-2) and we have the assurance that nothing that happens to us was a result of any inability on God’s part to protect us. He allows us to experience difficulties that we can overcome with his help, but he never gives us more than we can handle with the help of his strength (1 Cor. 10:13). Fathers, you reflect God when you take steps to protect your family from harm–physical, emotional, and most importantly, spiritual harm. Be the watchdog for your family and be on the lookout for things that threaten the spiritual health of your home, your family, and your marriage. 

Second, God provides affection. It may sound trite, but it is true: God loves YOU. The greatest expression of his love for the people he created is seen in the fact that he sent his Son to die and bear the punishment for your sin so that you can be reconciled with God (John 3:16). He spares no expense in showering love on us. Fathers, you reflect God when you show affection to your family. Your wife, your kids (even grown children) and your grandchildren–they all need and want your affection. Let them know how loved they are. And remember, by the way you self-sacrificially love your family, you are teaching them something about God and his love for them.

Third, God provides direction. God teaches us in the Bible about things that matter eternally. He gives us guidance on how to live life in a way that is holy and wholesome and that pleases him. Fathers, you reflect God when you provide guidance for your family. You give this to them from your own life experience, but more importantly you give them guidance by bringing them in contact with the word of God to benefit directly from his wisdom.

Protection, affection, and direction: fathers, the more you give these things to your family, the more you resemble God, who is the best Father there is. Your wife, your kids, your grandkids, and your church need these things from you. Our world desperately needs godly fathers. Will you step up to the plate? Will you answer the call?

Wisdom is an elusive thing. We live in an information-saturated world and we have greater and faster access to knowledge and facts than ever before. But wisdom is not nearly so prevalent. Where should we look for wisdom? Prestigious schools? Engaging life-coaches? Motivational speakers? Social media? The Bible teaches us that there is ultimately only one source of wisdom—God himself. God offers to give us his wisdom and he promises that if we search for it diligently we will find it. 

In Proverbs 2:1–8, Solomon tells his son, “My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come wisdom and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.”

Wisdom can be found if we seek it in the right manner and seek it from the right source. According to these words of Solomon, the correct way to seek wisdom is with diligence. Wisdom is more valuable than many riches (vs. 4) and must be sought as such. We should seek wisdom with the same earnestness and zeal that we would search for a hidden treasure or a deposit of gold. In our day and age, knowledge (information) comes so easily and with such little sacrifice that wisdom by comparison seems all the more difficult to find. But things worth having seldom come easily, and wisdom is no exception. As we go through life, let us be diligent about pursuing wisdom.

In addition to seeking wisdom in the right manner (diligently) we must also seek it from the right source. Ultimately, wisdom only comes from God (vs. 6). He delights in giving his wisdom to the upright, to those who walk in integrity (vs. 7) and he watches over their way (vs. 8). Many people are looking for wisdom everywhere except God and his word. God’s word doesn’t answer every question we’ll ever have, but it does give us wisdom. It teaches us how we should live lives that honor and glorify God. It keeps us from going through life unreflectively and forces us to come to terms with the things that matter most in life: our brokenness, our need for Jesus, our mortality, and eternity. Turn to God for his wisdom and diligently seek it in his word. His wisdom will guard us from many harms in this life and lead us to eternal joy in the next life.

“I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.” (Psalm 145:1-3)

These are the opening lines to one of the greatest expressions of praise in all of Scripture. This Psalm is one long chorus of praise, a reflection on the greatness of our God. These opening three verses confront us with three truths about praising our God.

First, praise is personal. “I will extol you, my God and King…” When we praise God, we do not praise an impersonal force or Being. He is “my” God, and he is your God too. He is our God not in the sense that he belongs to us, but that we belong to him. He is our God in the same way that a man is a child’s father; not because the father belongs to the child but because the child belongs to the father who gave him life. In the same way, God brings us into existence and gives us life. We praise him as our personal God, to whom you and I belong. He is “my” God. He is your God. 

Second, praise is endless. Praise is not a one-and-done thing. It’s not something we do once as an initiation into the faith, after which we never praise again. We praise God “every day” and “forever and ever.” We wake up every morning to praise him with our words, our thoughts, and our actions. Praises for God should never be far from our thoughts and words. In the words of one hymn, “Every step we are breathing in Your grace; evermore we’ll be breathing out Your praise” (Never Once, Matt Redmon, 2012). May we constantly breathe out his praises.

Third, praise is inadequate. Somewhat ironically, praise can never fully express what it tries to describe: the greatness of God’s character and glory. He is “great” and “greatly to be praised” but his “greatness is unsearchable.” Nothing can ever fully or adequately praise God’s greatness. There is no human way to describe God’s greatness; it simply cannot be put into words. This is why praise is endless; we never finish praising God because we can never exhaustively describe his glory and splendor. Realizing that we can never fully praise God doesn’t discourage us and lead us to stop; it’s just one more reason to praise him all the more! If we could completely describe him, then we would be able to comprehend him and that would mean he is lesser than us. We praise him because he is great and his greatness is unsearchable. This week, use the words of Psalm 145 to give voice to your praise for God. Praise him personally and endlessly, rejoicing in the fact that our praise can never even begin to exhaust the greatness of our God.