Father's Day Reflections On Growing Up As The Son Of A WWII Vet

My father was a big man, stood around 6'1″ and just under 200lbs, and to me as a child he was a towering and imposing figure. Served as a 2nd Lt. in the US Army Air Forces during WWII and Korea, married to one woman for 46 years, and worked the same job for 33 years without ever taking a personal sick day for himself. He was mostly on the quiet side, was strong in discipling me and my 4 brothers but never abusive, all in all he was a great guy. Then came the day when he died in my arms in his hospice bed as I whispered into his ear the last words he would ever hear.

"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;" Ecclesiastes 12:1 (KJB)n churches all across America this morning, messages will be preached to inspire the fathers in the congregations to be a better dad to their kids, and I suppose that type of message is pretty important when you consider that many fathers today are "checked out" and not fathering their children as they should. But my dad, we called him Pops, wasn't like that, he was a good father and he very much loved his kids. The message that I want to preach to you this morning centers around the events that took place on the last day of his life, and the last words he heard before leaving this earth and stepping out into eternity as we all will do some day. If you have a father or father-in-law that you've been praying for to get saved, you might want to make sure he listens to this message. And for those of you who have been witnessing to your fathers for a long time, this message will be a blessing to you as well.