In light of my father passing away I have deviated from the normal devotional. I hope this speaks to you as well.
The Death of a Hero
This past Sunday while most of us were celebrating Father’s day I was celebrating as well. Not only was I celebrating Father’s day I was also celebrating my Hero as well – My daddy. I called him at 6:55am to thank him for being an amazing father and I mentioned him in both our Sunday Services. 24 hours later the celebration changed to mixed emotions, thoughts and feelings.
On Monday at around 10:30am I received a panic phone call from my mom saying that my dad had fallen and may not make it, at 1:00pm that same day he was pronounced dead due to a massive heart attack. Although his health had been declining over the past several years he was doing really good so this came as a shock to my 3 brothers and me.
My Hero would have celebrated his 80th birthday this year and his death comes only one week after celebrating his 51st wedding anniversary. He was a faithful man of God, pastoring many churches during his lifetime and helped start many ministries. He lived a full and rich life traveling the world and touched countless lives.
There are so many memories I could write about but my two favorites are the following: When I was in high school I played basketball and my dad loved coming to my games. He and my mom would not just come to the home games but the away games as well. There was a game in Lakewood during the winter one year and it had snowed all day. As soon as my dad got off work he and my mom got in the car and started heading towards Lakewood. The snow had fallen so much that the car they were driving was unable to make it to the game. My dad was so disappointed that within the next 4 weeks he went and bought a blue Chevy 4x4 blazer. When I asked him why he did it his reply was, “I do not want to miss any more of your games”. That was 18 years ago but yet it feels like it was just yesterday. The second story only happened a few years ago and it was when my parents called me as I was in San Diego to tell me they were moving to Uganda to be missionaries and teach in a Bible College. My dad was 73 and my mom 66. My first thought was, “who does that at their age”. Most people their age are moving to Arizona or Florida to retire and call it a day. My dad… moves to Uganda.
Although these stories are amazing to me and show the character of my father this is not why he is my Hero. He is not my Hero because he was perfect or did everything right. My dad is my Hero because He taught me how to love God, love my wife and love my children. My dad is my Hero because of all the things he could have taught me growing up or all the things he could have given me growing up he chose to teach me the 3 most important lessons any man could have taught me.
I stand here today as a testament to my Hero. I love God, my wife and my family the way I do because I have a Hero in my father. His travels and all the things he did for me, as novel as they were pail in comparison to me watching him every day as he loved my mom and my brothers and me the way he did. My Hero was consistent in his love for all of us and his love for God. Every morning when I had the opportunity to see my dad I knew without fail I would find him sitting in his chair reading the Bible.
As I think about the Death of my Hero I am saddened that he is gone but I also rejoice for the future. I rejoice understanding that the death of a hero produces more heroes. The death of a hero pushes the younger heroes to live not for the moment but for the future. The death of hero causes us to get back to the priorities of life – Loving God, loving our wife and loving our children. The death of my hero causes me to want to push forward and lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me.
The Bible says in Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us”. As you read chapter 11 of this same book you understand that the great cloud of witnesses are all the people of faith or heroes that have gone on before us. These people lived such amazing lives just as my father did as heroes that it produces more heroes and encourages us to push on and live the great calling that God has for us. Without this great cloud of witnesses and Heroes the race is tougher. But since we have our heroes and I have my hero cheering me on I will, I must, I can continue to fight the good fight of faith. This is all because of the death of a hero.
We see this in the greatest hero of all times, Jesus Christ as he paid the ultimate sacrifice as a hero and laid down his life for all humanity so that we could have the opportunity to live as heroes for others. In John 19:30 the Bible says that Jesus breathed his last and gave up His spirit. The ultimate hero had died but when He did he gave up His spirit to pave the way for the one who would come after Him – The Holy Spirit. Because Jesus the ultimate hero had went to the cross and died he now has produced millions of heroes that are filled with His grace and His spirit. This was all because of the death of a hero.
This Saturday, although there will be tears as I bury my Hero, I will bury him with the understanding that since such a great Hero surrounds me, I will lay aside every burden and the sin that tries to get into my life. I will look even further to my Lord and savior Jesus Christ and I will run yet harder and faster and like my Hero I will finish the race, I will cross the finish line and I will lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me.
I love you dad, Thank you for being my Hero!
June 26th Bible Reading - 1 Samuel 5-6, Isaiah 51, Revelation 12-13
Dream Big
Ben
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