Prepare plans by consultation, And make war by wise guidance. Proverbs 20:18

Some think that living a godly life means relying on the Holy Spirit to the point where you make no plans at all - you are simply led by the Spirit to do whatever is next on the Spirit's agenda.  But, as with all extreme positions, this runs contrary to the whole counself of Scripture and what God has to say about planning.  Here we have a verse in Proverbs that promotes planning - but not from a fleshly standpoint - but rather from one that urges us to be wise and to consult with others as we make plans.

Planning can be a blessing or a curse.  What is key in determining which you are going to experience is your attitude and desire in what you plan.  The word "prepare" means to establish, set up something, to be firm, or to prepare.  It has the idea of being steadfast in a direction or being founded.  The idea here is that our lives are not to be flighty, but truly focused and set in a clear direction based upon Scripture.  The word "plans" gives us even a more clear direction and understanding of the idea of planning here.  The Hebrew word here is "mahashabah" which means a purpose, a thought or an intention.  This gives us an interesting line of thought - which is this . . . God wants us to think.  He wants us to think about our lives - to consider things - to take the time to reason biblically about the purpose for which we are doing things and the intent behind them.  When you consider planning from this perspective it takes on a whole new mindset.  Godly planning would involve prayer - consulting with God and with the Scriptures about the plans that are being made. 

The last word that is used in the first part of this passage is "consultation."  This is the Hebrew word "esah" which means to get advice, discernment from others, or to seek out the judgments of others.  This means seeking out advice, counsel, and not just relying on how you think about a matter when making plans.  Finding wise men and women who can help you grasp not only Scripture, but also good biblical sense is so important when making plans.  But too often the one thing we forget when reading a passage like this is that we ned to consult with God in prayer.  Without this important step, we will most likely make unwise plans.

The second half of this passage is interesting in that it tells us that we should "make war by wise guidance."  When I read this I see two things that immediately impress themsevles on my mind.  First is a physical reality - war in the physical realm.  Adam Clarke made a marvelous comment on this when he said, "Most of the wars that are undertaken are wars of injustice, ambition, aggrandizement, and caprice, which can have had no previous good counsel."  James 4 counsels us that the reason for the wars and conflicts among us are too often nothing more than a desire to get when we cannot get what we want through godly means.  This is why a war should never be entered into without wise counsel.

The second meaning I see here has to do with spiritual warfare - its reality and its engagement.  When we engage in doing God's will - even to the point of planning and setting a purpose in doing what God wants - we need to understand that we are going to face spiritual warfare.  The evil one is not going to sit still when believers are planning an attack against his kingdom and his territory.  That is why we need to make war - spiritual war - with wise guidance.  Our enemy, the devil, is a wiley foe.  He will oppose us openly as we preach the gospel, seek the salvation of the lost, and labor to see disciples of Jesus Christ raised up and eventually sent out to do additional damage to his interests.  That is why we need wise consultation with God.  We need to know we are doing His will, acting according to His Word, and are laboring and fighting by His Spirit.  When we do this we are sure to prevail and to bring glory to God.

Planning is not an ungodly thing.  Instead it is an opportunity to draw near to God - draw near to other wise saints who know Him - and to set our hearts and purposes according to His heart and purpose.  Rather than be a trip into selfishness and self-driven goals and 5 year plans - it is to be a time to engage with God Himself and with His most precious people who seek His face.  This can be even a time of reviving and realigning ourselves with Him - His purposes and plans - and even His power as we come into agreement with what He wants done and how He wants to accomplish it.

The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways, But a good man will be satisfied with his. Proverbs 14:14

Too often some religious words have been used in such a way that they are either now devoid of meaning - or they have become so cluttered with misunderstanding that they mean little to us now.  Such is the word, "backslider" in our religious vocabulary.  We've heard the term screamed shrilly at us - or have attributed the word to back woods preachers who use it to scare the faithful to the altar when revival services are in town.  This is a loss for the church because this word is used as a warning to us - not with a piercing scream of a preacher trying to make a point - but with the gentle yet strong urgings of wisdom who only desires to prevent us from walking in a foolish way that will cost us far more than we are willing to pay in the end.

The backslider in heart - is a phrase that speaks of someone who has turned away.  The word actually comes from the Hebrew word, "sug" which means to turn away or to turn ones back.  The idea with this word is that someone is turning from an accepted or expected path or commitment.  They are crossing a boundary line, and in the process are being disloyal in the process.  Here we also get the idea that this is not just an isolated decision - but something that has been chosen enough times to where a heart has been set in a direction.  The backslider in heart is the one whose heart commitment to the Lord has turned badly in the wrong direction.  He has decided to walk away from his commitment to the Lord - and now his decisions are betraying his faith. 

What is fascinating about this proverb is that we read that the backslider in heart, "will have his fill of his own ways.  The idea here is that this person who is turning from the Lord and from His Word - is going to be filled to the point of misery with his own ways.  He is not going to be happy with this development.  He will be miserable.  The proverb states that the good man will be satisfied with his ways.  The good, godly man will find the lifestyle and the direction of his life and choices are very satisfying.  But the backslider in heart is going to be full.  But the fullness that he will have will be a fullness of regret, a fullness of problems, and a fullness that is very unpleasant. 

Imagine with me a meal that you've eaten.  But what has happened at this meal is that you have eaten to the point of being miserable.  As you sit and are now sickened by the mere thought of food - you groan over being full of your own over eating.  That is truly a horrible feeling when it happens.  What the proverb here is trying to describe is a lifestyle that is overflowing with regretable decisions that were not in accord with the Scriptures.  The consequences that begin building up are awful.  This man looks at them and thinks how he is full of the consequences of his own ways.  What proverbs says elsewhere is that he groans at his latter end.  When everything comes to roost - he finds that he is groaning under years of bad decisions - just wishing that he had done something different.  For this man there is little more than regret over the choices he has made.  These were choices that glorified his flesh and did not honor God.  Filled to the full with these choices and the myriad of horrific consequences they have brought on - he can only sigh and steel himself for the tidal wave of problems and difficulty he is about to face. 

Think about this . . . that when you turn from God you are setting a course for misery.  You may not see it right away - but know that your backsliding from God and from His Word are going to have a very steep price to pay.  You may decieve yourself that such a price will never come, but the truth is that as you make choice after choice to ignore and even defy God - you are storing up misery for yourself.  That misery IS coming.  And when it comes all you will be able to do is groan under the weight of it.  Filled with your own ways - you will finally learn that satisfaction comes as we embrace God and embrace the good He desires for us in our lives. 

So you will walk in the way of good men And keep to the paths of the righteous. Proverbs 2:20

There is a road map that God has for us - not just for a short journey, but for an entire lifetime.  The proverb for today speaks of this in two ways.  There are two words used here to indicate a way or a path.  One refers to the way of good men - while the other speaks of the paths of the righteous.  Let's take a look at both of them and see how we can gain a little bit of wisdom from them both. 

First we learn of the way of good men.  This is the Hebrew word "derek" which speaks of a way that is traveled.  The way that this word is used most often is to speak metaphorically of the pathway of one's life.  This suggests to us a pattern of life - which is referred to in Deuteronomy 8:6 as an obedient life and in 2 Samuel 22:22 and Jeremiah 5:4 refers to a life lived for godly and righteous ways.  Since the entire chapter focuses on the power of the Word of God in our lives - and our need to know it, study it, meditate on it, and apply it to our lives - then we can see that if we take the Word seriously - it will have a powerful affect on our lives.  The biblical way is the way of good men.  Those who have a sincere desire to obey the Lord and to serve Him and love Him will live good lives.  Their lifestyles are worth emulating - and we can follow their way of life if we are committed to following the Scriptures.

Second, we learn of the paths of the righteous.  The word for "paths" here is the Hebrew word, "orah."  This word is similar to our first.  It speaks of a way or a highway.  It is metaphorically used to speak of the literal path upon which someone walks - but also can refer to the course of their life - the characteristics of their lifestyle.  These can be good or evil, righteous or deserving of judgment.  Here since it speaks of the paths of the righteous, we are speaking of a good way to go.  The difference between these two words seems to be that in the first, we are walking in the ways of the good men we see.  It seems to have an immediacy to it - as if we have these men before our eyes.  It speaks of following the examples of men who are alive and whom we seek to emulate because of their godly lifestyles.  The second word speaks more of holding fast to the very way (lifestyle over their entire lives) of righteous men. 

Where do we learn of such men?  First we learn of them in the Scriptures.  We know of godly men throughout the Word of God.  These are men who have an example and a lifestyle worthy of following.  These are men like Moses, David, Elijah, Elisha, Hezekiah, the prophets and others in the Old Testament.  In the New we have Peter, Paul, John, and Jesus.  We need to look at both their daily lives - as well as the course of their lives and give ourselves to following their example.

Do you have such men in your sights?  Are you making sure that you and your children have the right kind of heros to emulate and to follow?  We desperately need to change the kind of men we set before ourselves and our children in this generation.  If we allow the media and the world to chose these men we will see thier bankruptcy poured into the lives of our children - as well as polluting our own hearts as to what a real man should be.  Men like Jim Elliot, William Carey, John Patton, George Mueller, John Hyde, C. S. Lewis, Vanya, and Bruchko should be well known to this generation of the church.  Unfortunately, they are relatively unknown and we are much poorer for it.  May God give us a renaisance of Christian heros and men worthy of following before our eyes.  May their example help to point the way and the path upon which we should be walking.

My son, if your heart is wise, My own heart also will be glad; and my inmost being will rejoice When your lips speak what is right. Proverbs 23:15-16

What should matter most to us when we think of our sons?  I know for a period of my life what mattered most to me was seeing my sons excel at sports.  I could have sadly rewritten these two verses with the following foolish edits.

"My son, if you do well at football and soccer, my own heart also will be glad; and my flesh will rejoice when I can cheer at your games for your goals and touchdowns."  (Dopey Father 23:15-16)

First of all I want to state that I am not against sports or competitive activities.  When God graciously broke me he still allowed my sons to compete in sports - and I continued to cheer for them on the sidelines.  Oh, but how I grieved for the years that I had lost - and for the way I had skewed their minds on what was a priority in their lives.  During that time period we set everything aside for their sports careers.  We spent tremendous amounts of money following them all over the mid-south (which, by the way, put us into debt).  I had my sweet wife miss church along with my sons, so that we could go wherever the coach told us to go.  We basically had a very clear idol in our lives - and it is was the dream I had that maybe one day my sons could play college ball - or even make a pro team.  But the most devastating problem that was growing all the time was the misplaced priorities that I was putting before my sons.  My own lack of submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in my life - carried over into my son's lives.  This story ends well - because of two things.  First and foremost because of God's mercy and grace.  But secondly, because of some serious repentance on my part - repentance and brokenness that led me back to a proper life under the Lordship of Jesus Christ - and with proper biblical priorities.  Let me get back, though, to the proverb at hand.

The father here is speaking of what makes his heart glad.  The father here was glad, and later even rejoiced that his son had a wise heart.  Wisdom was what this father valued most in his son.  And it is a wisdom that sees life as God sees it.  The father here lived to see his son one day with a very wise and discerning heart.  He labored to see that one day his boy would be a man who longed to do the will of God above anything else in his life.  This places before us a very important question.  Are we as fathers seeing our most important job as laboring to see our sons become wise, godly young men?

Wisdom comes from God.  We learned this back in Proverbs 2.  If we are going to have wise sons, it will be because we have taught them the things of God.  Wise sons come from wise fathers who both know the Word and apply it in our everyday lives.  The passion that often drives a "sports-dad" will be re-directed into being a "godly-dad."  If the Christian fathers who spend hours trying to hone their son into the next Peyton Manning or the next Landon Donovan, would devote that much time to honing their sons into the next Paul - we'd watch a revolution in the church - and in our society in general.  Instead of working on passing and catching skills alone - we'd find ourselves spending time also reading the Word with our child.  We'd be working on wisdom skills - on memorizing Scripture - and on being able to take the Word of God an use it to properly discern good and evil as they walked through their lives. 

I know I may be laboring the point a little bit, but think about this for a moment.  How many sons are actually going to be playing sports at the college level?  How many truly have a shot at the NFL or MLB or the MLS?  And how many who make it to those levels of sport will have a wise and discerning heart there to keep them out of the trouble that seems to be following sportsmen in these sports?  The truth is very few will make it to these teams, but everyone single one of those young men will need to be able to live a life of wisdom.  All of them - even those who do make it - will need "wisdom skills" to walk through life worthy of their calling in Jesus Christ.  If you think your son will make it to a college or pro level - have at it.  But Dad, make sure that the most important goal you have for your son is to live a life of wisdom an godliness!  Make sure HE knows that this is the true goal - and that which would most delight your heart and soul!

The father her also states that his inmost being will rejoice when he hears his son speaking what is right.  The inmost being spoken of here is literally kidneys in the Hebrew.  Dads, your kidneys need to rejoice over your son!  Now there is a phrase you don't hear much anymore.  "Hey Bob, man my kidneys just rejoice over how Bob Jr. is growing into a godly young man!" 

The kidneys were thought, along with the heart, to be the deepest seat of emotion and joy in a person.  It referred to the innermost and most private part of a person's life.  When you are moved to rejoice at that level, you are rejoicing at the deepest level possible.  You rejoice because your heart is blessed at the core level of your beliefs and principles.  This leaves me with another loaded question.  What is your deepest rejoicing about in life?  If you find yourself rejoicing deeply at the touchdowns and sports achievements of others - but yawning at the things of God - the exhibition of godly character and true manhood - you are rejoicing about the wrong things.  Let me say, I love a good touchdown like most guys - but God has worked to where I get more excited when I watch my sons make godly decisions. 

The reason this father was rejoicing in his kidneys was because his son was speaking what is right.  This is not that his son was parroting some phrase or some rote speech he knew would make dad happy, but that his son was speaking normally - and was saying what was right.  This is an important step for our sons maturity wise.  Jesus taught us that it was out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth spoke.  So when we hear our sons speaking what is right in their normal conversation - it tells us that God has worked in their hearts.  It is easy to get a son to say what YOU want him too when he is around you - but it is far more difficult to rear him to say the right thing (the godly thing) as a matter of normal living.  This requires God working in his heart.  That is why the father was dancing in his kidneys when he knew his son was speaking this way. 

Fathers, this proverb is vital for us to grasp.  We are called to take boys given to us by God, and rear them to be men.  This requires doing far more than just bringing home the bacon - and re-living our desires for sports grandeur through them.  Taking a boy and making him a man requires that we put wisdom and godliness at the top of our own priority list, and helping our sons to do the same.  It means laboring to see a heart-change in our boys by the working of the gospel and the Spirit of God.  It means training our sons to love a woman properly - and to have a vision of what God desires for their lives to be.  But I will tell you by the mercies of God that when you watch your sons begin to make godly decisions - no sports achievement in the world can come close to the sensation you will get in your kidneys!  Live therefore for the glory of God and the blessing of your kidneys as you labor to take boys - and give the world men of God.

Like a bird that wanders from her nest, So is a man who wanders from his home. Proverbs 27:8

Birds begin every spring by gathering what is needed to construct a nest.  Usually they select a place that they believe will give them protection and shelter.  This becomes the location where they then lay eggs and work to build a family.  The nest serves as the location of safety and of security.  For a bird to leave the nest is dangerous.  Note that the term used for this leaving is the word wander.  The bird is not flying from the nest for the purpose of hunting or finding food for itself and its young.  This bird is just following its own curiosity wandering away from the nest to see what he can see.  This indicates that we are probably speaking of the young - because an adult bird knows better than to wander from the nest.  There is a word for birds who wander from their nests - prey!  They become prey for those who are watching to see if they leave the protection and cover of the nest.  They are sitting ducks as they go out from the nest just wandering wherever they go.  It is a very dangerous thing to just go wandering away.

The picture of a bird wandering from its nest is compared to a man who wanders from his home.  Here again is God's wisdom.  God establishes the home as the central unit of society.  It is also the place where God intends for children to be reared to maturity.  There God provides for the child two loving parents who are focused on selflessly giving themselves for this child's good.  As long as the child stays within the home (meaning its influence and protection) that child is safe.  When the child wanders from that place - he is in danger.  But what we have said to us here is not about a child - it is about a man.  The man who wanders from his home is like the bird wandering from his nest. 

What would cause a man to wander from his home?  There are many things actually that work toward guiding a man toward this disaster.  First is another woman.  Many men wander from their home and wind up being involved with a woman who is not their wife.  They wander away from their commitment - away from their vows to God and to their bride - and much like the bird wandering from his nest - this man is caught . . . trapped . . . hunted and captured.  Sexual immorality and adultery are both strong traps that have destroyed many a man who wandered from the nest of his home and marriage.  Another thing that causes men to wander is outside interests that begin to dominate their lives.  Please understand I'm not against a man having outside interests like hunting, fishing, sports, cars, motorcyles, or whatever else a guy chooses to pursue.  What I warn men against is having pursuits that take them away from the home far too often.  Our commitment as a husband and father is to our wives and our children.  Anything that takes us away from them - and hinders us from being there for them as we should - is not good.  It is another way men "wander" from the nest - and leave themselves (and their families) unprotected.  There is more to this than just the damage done to the man who wanders away.  When he is in this "wandering" state, his family is left unprotected.  His sons are untaught in the things of the Lord - and undirected into God's way by watching and participating with their father in vastly important ways.  His daughters are left unprotected - and grow up with a sense that they have to take care of themselves.  They face dealing with boys on their own - and since dad has been off acting like a boy - they don't know what a real man looks like.  Too often this leads to disaster as sons grow up being boys perennially as they follow the footsteps of a father who leads them there by not growing up himself.  Daughters grow up unprotected and wind up going out with and marrying the wrong kind of man.  There are truly multiple disasters that come from a man wandering from his home. 

Men . . . God wants you to be MEN!  That means leaving behind boyhood and choosing to be the man God wants you to be in your home.  The church and our world desperately needs men like this.  We need guys who choose to die to themselves and see more and more as they grow older that life is not about them.  They grow up and realize that shirking serious responsibilities in the home and in the church is creating a horrific society and a broken nation.  We cannot continue on the course we are on - because to do so is to embrace destruction on a national scale.  I realize that this is not just a problem for us - it has been a multi-generational problem in our nation.  Many of us are like we are - because we have had fathers who wandered from the home - either physically, emotionally, spiritually, or all the above.  But we cannot continue on this path - it surely leads to disaster!  May God move in our hearts and in our homes to fulfill His promise in Malachi 4:5-6.  There the Lord spoke of a day when he would send us "Elijah the prophet" before the great and terrible day of the LORD.  His purpose and ministry would be to, ". . . restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers . . ."  God's promise here was so that He would not have to come and smite the land with a curse.  I think we see all the marks of that curse on our land today.  To be honest, the vast majority of the responsibility for that curse lies on the fathers of today and yesterday - for wandering from home.  May the work of revival and reformation bring fathers back home - first back to the Lord Himself, then back to their wives and children.  Basically - back to the nest - a place they never should have wandered from in the first place.

The memory of the righteous is blessed, But the name of the wicked will rot. Proverbs 10:7

What kind of memories come to mind when you hear the following names.  Take a moment and remember Billy Graham.  Now take a moment and remember Adolf Hitler.  That brief exercise has just proven the proverb that we will examine today.

Proverbs tells us that the memory of the righteous is blessed.  God is not saying that the righteous will have a great memory - but rather when people remember the righteous they will do so with a smile on their face and good things in their heart.  Godly people not only die well - they also are remembered well.  Billy Graham is nearing the day when he will go to be with the Lord.  I can promise you that on the day our brother goes to be with Jesus, the memory of who he is and what he has done in the Lord will be a blessing to millions.  I remember a scene from the movie, "Chariots of Fire."  It was at the very close of the movie.  Two men are remembered for the lives that they lived.  The first was Harold Abrahams, a sprinter who won a gold medal in the 1924 Olympics.  He was a determined man who lived for that medal.  When he died some rememebered him as a great sprinter - but Abrahams was not known for his graciousness or great soul.  The second man was Eric Liddell, a scotsman, who won gold in the 400, a race many thought he would compete in poorly.  Liddell was supposed to be in the 100, but chose not to compete as it would make him do so on a Sunday, something that was against his own religious convictions.  After the Olympics Liddell went to China as a missionary where he was dearly loved by the Chinese during his ministry there.  The movie spoke of the day Liddell died with these words, "All Scotland mourned."  When that godly man went to be with the Lord - all of Scotland mourned his death - and remembered his life with great joy.  The memory of the righteous is blessed!  That is the case with men like Liddell - but it is also the case with much lesser known men.  Being a pastor, I've watched it again and again at funerals. 

My third funeral, after I did two for lost people, was for a precious 90+ year old woman who loved the Lord with all her heart.  She never raced in the Olympics or went to China as a missionary.  She just lived in a small Arkansas community and loved Jesus and those around her all her life.  When she died it was such a precious thing to hear from all those who knew her.  They spoke glowingly of her commitment to Christ and the way that she lived for God's glory as she gave herself to those around her.  Indeed her memory was blessed that day - and many afterward.

But let us turn to Mr. Hitler.  Just that name causes people to cringe.  Over the years - the rot of that name continues to cast a putrid shadow over history.  Adolf Hitler's name will rot throughout all time.  He was a wicked man who lived for his own power and conquest.  After World War II we learned of his horrific efforts to exterminate an entire race of people.  There are few if any who have any kind thoughts toward this man - and those who do usually share his twisted philosophy of a master race.  His name will live in infamy and shame for what he did. 

So, what kind of memory will you create when your days are done?  Will you live for righteousness and godliness?  Will you live for Christ and His kingdom with a selfless, self-emptying passion that drives you to bless all those around you?  Or will you give yourself to more selfish and self-centered pursuits.  Will you embrace wickedness instead of righteousness.  What you choose in life will determine how you will be remembered in death.  Choose life - choose godliness - choose the path of the righteous that is like the light of dawn, shining brighter till the noon day.  If you do this you will leave a memory that will delight the hearts of those who think of you and your works - even long after you have left this life for life eternal.

Grandchildren are the crown of old men, And the glory of sons is their fathers. Proverbs 17:6

Here is a verse that we as fathers and grandfathers need to read and have as our goal as parents.  It speaks of how grandchildren and children should feel about one another.  We are currently suffering from a lack of "fatherhood" in our nation.  Fathers are abdicating their responsiblities and leaving children to be reared solely by their mothers (with some children even being rejected by their mothers and being left to a grandmother, relative, or the state system.  With all due respect to the moms, grandmothers, and those in the foster care system who are doing their best - dads cannot be replaced.

Grandchildren are the crown of old men.  We see this in one way when we run into the grandfather who has a wallet full of pictures and a heart filled with pride over his precious grandson or granddaughter.  He could tell stories for an hour or more about this precious one who is so dear to his heart.  But there is a greater thing we also need to see.  Children's children are the product of a job well done by a parent.  It is one thing to see our children follow the Lord - and it is a joy to see.  But a greater joy even than this is when our children also learn from our example to rear their children in the Lord as well.  When we see multiple generations blessed by the work of the Lord in their hearts, we experience the crown - the vicotry that God desires for us in our families.  A grandfather who is spiritually minded delights to watch his own children teach his grandchildren to walk with God.  One of the things that God desired in His people, was that fathers would take seriously their spiritual responsibility of rearing their children in His ways.  This was seen when "many generations" were blessed. 

This only happens when we see the second part of this proverb embraced.  We read, "The glory of children are their fathers."  This does not happen automatically.  It requires a father who looks at his responsibility to lead his family - and who seeks to fulfill that responsiblity - not for just a day, or a week, or even a year.  He seeks to live out God's best for a lifetime.  I've watched men do this and it is a joy to watch how their children view them.  One man I know personally is his daughter's hero.  I watch his 3 daughters as they are around him.  Many men would give all that they have to see that look in their daughter's eyes.  To these girls, their father is their glory.  I also know a man whose son looks at him in the same way.  This young man truly has a worthy hero - and the hero is not some athlete or movie star whose life does not deserve emulation.  His hero is his dad. 

Let me say that these looks do not come cheap.  These two men have given their lives to love the Lord first - their wives second - and their children third.  They have their priorities straight - and they live by them.  They don't have a ton of hobbies - and are not men who live for themselves and what they want.  They sacrifice and live to please God and to love others.  They lay down their lives on behalf of their wives and children.  This is a daily act on their part that may seem costly to some men - but these two dads would say that it was a mere pittance compared to what they've received through the love of their families. 

We have a picture of how things should be.  Grandchildren should be the crown of the old men who have them.  Children should glory in their fathers.  That is the norm in the kingdom of God.  The question we should then ask as fathers is very simple.  "Are we living in such a way that they have someone in whom to glory?"  Our ultimate example in all this is God.  He gave and gave - and lives to bless His children - even when they are not exactly worthy of blessing.  May we make it our lifelong ambition to be "like Him."  Be like the ultimate Father - and give ourselves for our bride and children.  When we do so, we will find that there are blessings - marvelous blessings for a job well done in this area.