Devotional | The Value of a Blacksmith
God is calling men to become the leaders He preordained us to be before the foundations of the world. It is time for us to step up into the biblical perspective of fatherhood. But what does that look like?
Fatherhood looks like a man who is prepared to fight principalities and powers in high places, safeguard and strengthen marriage, protect and lead his children, and help them discover who they are in Christ. It looks like a father ready to shape, forge, and temper his children, shaping them for their destiny.
‘Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.” But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man’s plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle; and the charge for a sharpening was a pim for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads. So it came about, on the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan, his son.’ 1 Samuel 13:19-22
At this time in history, there were no blacksmiths in Israel. The Israelites were dependent on the Philistines—dependent upon the world—to even sharpen their plows. There were definitely no weapons for protection. The Philistines knew if they removed the blacksmiths from their role in Israel, the people would not be equipped for war or properly equipped for work.
God has placed fathers in the home to be the blacksmiths for our nation. The Philistines—the world—are doing everything to remove the blacksmiths in order to weaken the people. The enemy wants our children to become prey to demonic powers, to be unprepared for warfare, and to lack the tools and skills for work.
‘Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.’ Psalms 127:4
The blacksmiths forge, shape, and temper metal into weapons of war, and tools for work. That’s what blacksmiths do. As fathers, we temper our children for success in life, both in warfare and in success, including a good work ethic for life. Fathers are called to prepare our children before we launch them like arrows into a dark world. They need to know how to fight the good fight of faith and where to find the tools that God has provided for their success.
Fathers bring moral clarity to the home. Your children need to see and hear you make a stand for what is right and to be guided by morals and biblical principles. You need to be the one seeking God. You need to be the one who says, this is right and this is wrong. There’s something powerful about male authority that God has placed within us.
Fathers are responsible for building character. We are the ones who establish boundaries and consequences. There’s a male authority designed by God that children respond to and you need to exercise it. The authority is not because you are mean, mad, or overbearing. It is because of God’s divine order.
Fathers provide training and teaching for our children to learn submission to authority. There’s nowhere you can go without authority, and a healthy understanding of submission is needed to be a functional member of society, not to mention a success in family life and commerce.
Fathers should be the ones to teach a good work ethic. Work is the image of God in man. God worked six days and on the seventh He rested. That’s God’s image in man. Fathers should be teaching their children the value of good work. God gave Adam a job, right off the bat. Work and rest are the circle of life designed by God (Genesis 2:2, 2:15).
Fathers need to be preparing their children for everything from marriage to identity. Your life is a model for your sons to know how to treat women and love their wives. You are a model for the kind of man your daughter will look for in a husband. You, as their father, are training, forging, shaping, and tempering them to be good husbands and wives when it is their turn.
‘And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.’ Genesis 18:17-19
God chose Abraham to be the father of many nations because God knew he would command not only his children, but his household to keep the ways of the Lord. As a father, God has entrusted you with a family, and He trusts that you will teach them the ways of the Lord. It’s time to stoke the fire in the forge of your home and be the father He has called you to be.
It is time for fathers to step up as the blacksmith in the home.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Happy Father’s Day
Duane Sheriff Ministries
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