A Word for Fathers from Deuteronomy 6
In the last week of his life, Moses spoke to the people of Israel at the gates of the Promised Land. Every message in that speech carries the urgency and weight of a man who knows his time is short, and who must communicate what matters most to those he loves so deeply. There are no trivial conversations in the last words of a dying man. There is only what is true, what is necessary, and what cannot wait. Moses gave us a sacred call. The ministry we cannot delegate.
That speech is the book of Deuteronomy.
We live in a world that has changed at an accelerated pace in recent decades, where voices abound that promote and celebrate values contrary to the faith, despise biblical principles, and actively seek to normalize immorality in educational settings, social spaces, and even in many churches across various Christian denominations. Fatherhood has not gotten any easier. And the urgency of what Moses said has never been greater.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 contains a specific instruction for fathers:
“And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.” (NASB)
Three things stand out immediately:
- The command is for fathers — not for the church, nor the school.
- It happens in the context of family life — not summer camp or a youth retreat.
- It is daily and uninterrupted — not seasonal, not occasional.
Thank God for the church, for summer camps and youth gatherings, for movies, music, books, and every Christian resource available. Each one is a gift. But the primary calling — the one that cannot be outsourced or replaced — is yours, dad. To speak to your children about the Word of God, in every place and at every moment.
The Excuses (We All Have Them)
Just like Moses at the burning bush! If you’re honest, you probably recognize at least one of these in yourself:
- I don’t have seminary training.
- I’m not good at teaching.
- I’d rather let my wife handle that part.
- I don’t know the Bible well enough to talk about it with my kids.
- I don’t have time to prepare anything for my family.
And the list goes on, with variations on the same theme, or excuses entirely of their own.
Do you remember if making excuses worked for Moses? The answer is no. It didn’t work. The calling kept weighing on him — and more importantly, God never left him alone on that journey.
I say this to you with full confidence, beloved brother: our excuses do not release us from the calling God placed on us. For that responsibility — one that cannot be delegated — we will answer to God.
If you don’t know the Bible, it’s urgent that you start reading it. If you don’t know how to teach, it’s urgent that you learn. If you can’t find the time, then your entire life needs an urgent change of priorities.
But There’s Another Father Reading This
There’s another kind of father reading this — not the one making excuses, but the one carrying wounds so deep that excuses are beside the point.
- The one who never learned, because no one ever showed him how.
- The one so broken inside that he doesn’t even know where to begin helping others.
- The one who feels so unworthy — like the tax collector in the temple — that all he can say is, “God, have mercy on me.”
- The one so weighed down by his problems that he has no strength left to give.
For that father, I invite you to think about Moses — not the Moses of the Red Sea and the Tablets of the Law, but the Moses before all of that.
The one who grew up far from his family, because he was adopted. The one who, trying to fulfill his purpose, ended up killing a man. The one who, in a single day, went from being the prince of the greatest power in the world at the time to a shepherd in the desert. The one who lived forty years in complete anonymity.
And that rejected, broken, humiliated man is the one God raised up to be the patriarch — literally, the father — who would lead the entire people of Israel out of slavery into the Promised Land.
If God could do that with Moses, He will do it with you.
Your Most Important Ministry
Nothing replaces a father’s instruction. Nothing and no one in this world will fill the space and the responsibility God assigned to you in front of your children.
That is your most important ministry.
Your pulpit is on your knees beside their beds every night before they fall asleep. It’s at the dinner table during every meal, in the car on the way there and back, at the park, in the morning, everywhere, and at every moment.
You’ve heard it many times before, and it’s worth hearing again: they grow up fast. Every chance to be close to them is worth its weight in gold.
Tonight, you don’t need a prepared sermon. One single truth is enough — perhaps the very one you need to remember today — shared heart to heart, before they fall asleep.
May the Heavenly Father, by His power and grace, pour out on every father reading this a fresh anointing of His Spirit, to carry out the precious ministry of fatherhood.
In Christ Jesus, I bless you, brother.
If you’re looking for a place to start, the Parables Series was created exactly for the nights Moses described — sitting at home, walking along the road, lying down, and rising up. One story. One conversation. One night at a time.
