RELAYS - Dag Heward-Mills

READ: Matthew 21:33-41

For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

1 Corinthians 4:15

In this life, God is going to send a number of people to father you. The first of these is your earthly father whom you must not see as an elderly, person who is out of touch with the realities of modern life.

Soon, the relay begins and the next person sent by the Lord to father you will arrive on the scene. A pastor often becomes the next father in the relay. Through his ministry, you will receive the fatherly care that you need to go through the next stage of your life.

Among the hundreds of instructors and teachers, it is always important to recognize who the fathers are. Fathers have a wider scope of concern for your life. You will discover that their ministry cares for you totally. One of the keys to recognizing a father is to recognize the love, care and direction of our heavenly Father being transmitted through him to your life.

No human being could truly be all that a father is supposed to be. Only the Heavenly Father truly exemplifies what a father is. Fathering by the natural man is fraught with imperfections, and justifies the need for what I call, "the relay of the fathers". The relay involves God sending one person after another for different phases of your life and ministry. It is important to recognize the different people as they walk into your life.

This is what Jesus was illustrating with the parable in Matthew 21. We will be judged by the way we received God's servants who were sent to us.