"If I Be Father, Where is Mine Honour?"

I have two earthly fathers. I do not refer to spiritual fathers. I refer to fathers with whom I have a biological relationship.

My first father died long ago when I was much too young to establish any vibrant relationship with him. He was the father that gave birth to me. I was separated from him when I was about ten years old; and when I could have had a chance to relate with him in any meaningful way, he passed on.

My second father was his younger brother, my uncle. He raised me, mentored me, educated me, and prepared me for life. He was my second father, my only surviving biological father, and I called him Papa. In every respect, he was the father I really know. He too passed on January 2017.

I have known many men in my time, but Papa surpasses them all in his kindness, wisdom, fatherliness, and candour. I pay tribute to him as I write this blog, the man whom God used to make me.

I loved my earthly father, and that was a big challenge because I had to constantly prove that love. Love must be proved. I owed him the responsibility of a true son. I constantly prayed for my earthly father and mother, and wished always for their well-being. In my own little way, I took care of them. For years I placed them on monthly stipends, irrespective of what other children did, because they were my father and mother. Their welfare gave me a lot of concern. It was a burden I couldn't help. The reason is simple: they were my parents. There was something sacrosanct about that obligation.

I remember when Papa fell very sick. I was afraid we would lose him, so I brought him over to my city and took him to the best hospital I could find. Many days afterwards, Papa recovered and I took him back to his city to recuperate.

The next day in church, there was a powerful ministration on healing during which the minister anointed us and declared that on whomsoever we laid our hands that same day, God would transfer the same healing virtue. There and then I began to think of Papa. The service ended about 6:30 p.m., and it would take me thirty minutes to drive to Papa’s city and have my hands laid on him, but there was a security issue plying this route at that time of day.

Undaunted and full of faith, I drove to Papa’s home and met many well-wishers who had gathered to rejoice over his return from hospital. I hurriedly entered the house, brushed people aside, greeted Papa, and wrapped my hands around him, muttering a healing prayer, and immediately excused myself and headed back to my city that night.

I must have left Papa wondering what the matter was with me. Only the previous day I had brought him back home, so why this sudden visit, strange greeting, and rush to go back? Well, acts of faith do not lend themselves to commonsensical explanations, do they?

Needless to say the sickness left Papa and never returned. What was driving me? It was love for my father, and a strong desire to honour him.

Years ago, I had the only disagreement with my mother that I can recall. I had gone to visit her as I often did. A misunderstanding arose between us on a matter on which I was convinced she was wrong and I was right, and I got angry, stomped out of her house, and drove back to my city. Although I knew my position was correct, that night I could not sleep. My conscience told me I was wrong to walkout on my mother, and I knew I had to go back to the village and unreservedly apologise to her. The next day I drove to her place, got down on my knees, and apologised for my behaviour. I was forgiven, and I felt relieved. Our relationship waxed stronger.

I have gone over this digression to say that there is a natural law to honour our parents. God put this in all of us, and He wants it so. Honouring our earthly parents is one of the cardinal sacrifices we must make if we are to attain success. It is such an important sacrifice God ordained it as a divine law, the only one of the Ten Commandments that comes with a precise promise.

My children call me the greatest daddy in the world. I don’t expect you to agree with them. What I know is that it makes me feel good when they say that.

Honour is the greatest debt you will ever owe your father and mother.

When one of Noah’s sons dishonoured his father because he was in a drunken state, the errant son incurred a curse. Ironically, God shielded the drunken father. God has made the honour equation between a child and a father to tilt in favour of the father. He places a very high premium on how we treat our earthly parents. That is why he packs so much power in the curses or blessings they pronounce. Disavowal and repudiation by a parent is not something any child should take lightly. Study the lives of people who make it to maximum; they are lovers of their fathers and mothers.

As you read this article, if you have any unresolved issue with your father or mother, go and quickly make up with them. That singular act will make your reading this blog worthwhile.

But there is a greater Father!

So far I have been talking about our earthly fathers. Now we need to turn attention to our heavenly Father, the Father of all fathers! We can relate with our earthly fathers because we can see them, touch them, smell them, and hear them. We relate with them physically. When it comes to our heavenly Father, we falter because we are limited by our five senses. Until we are out of our minds, out of our puny senses, we can't relate with God, and that is man's problem--getting out of his mind!

You will never get to maximum if you despise your earthly parents. Never! And it gets even worse with God.

The perquisites of the earthly father are even more ascribable to our heavenly Father. He needs us to connect with Him regularly in prayer, worship, and fellowship. He longs for our attention, as does our earthly father. He needs us to bring Him sweet-smelling offerings and sacrifices daily. He needs us to honour Him before men all the time. He desires that we cry out to Him regularly, "Abba Father," just as it sounds sweet in my ears when my children call me the greatest daddy. His curse is upon all who reject or forsake Him.

Unfortunately, man has failed woefully in these endeavours, which is why God asks in Malachi 1:6, “If I be father, where is mine honour?” He has been seeking our attention for ages.

We have raised to a new level the behaviours our Father says He detests: thefts, murders, lesbianism, homosexuality, carnality, idolatry. You name any evil, like dirty cigarette smoke, we blow a more heinous version of it in God's face daily...and do so without any qualms. In fact, one of us, an unabashed homosexual, recently offered himself to be the President of America, the most powerful man on earth! He dared God to stop him. Oh, how hard I prayed against him!

But our Father is capable of speaking to the deaf in other ways: confuse our language as He did with the obnoxious builders of the Babel Tower; send a flood as He did in Noah's day; rain fire and brimstone as He did in Sodom and Gomorrah. In our time, He has allowed the messenger of death to afflict with the coronavirus. Just to get our attention.

All of a sudden, the deaf and blind to God's word are praying, obeying simple hygiene rules, and listening to the instructions of fallible mortals, the same ones who misrule us. Now everyone is too afraid to shake a hand. Everyone prefers a smelly fart to a sneeze by their neighbour. God has found a harsher way to teach us the art of listening to and paying Him attention.

But when He hears and answers our desperate prayers, and the current scourge blows over, how many will continue the new habit of paying Him attention? How many will not behave like the proud, haughty, and arrogant Pharaoh, who after pleading away every plague hardened his heart again for the next?

If He be God, where is His honour?

Friends, let what is happening open our eyes. Let's stop the arrogance: Give your life to Jesus Christ NOW!

(This article is culled from my book, Getting to Maximum. Take this link to read other articles or get my books: https://www.chrisekpekurede.com/books

Don't just self-quarantine at home this season. Use the time to read good books. You can also get in touch with me directly: 08182813231.