A Father\u2019s Gift<\/span><\/p>\n
My first Bible advocate wasn\u2019t the magazine. I\u2019d seen it around the house growing up, but I didn\u2019t pay it much attention until later in life. No, my first advocate didn\u2019t come to me on paper but in a person. My dad.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
From my earliest memories, I watched him reading his well-worn Bible at night by lamplight. He wasn\u2019t a booklover in general, but he loved that book \u2014 <\/span>The Book<\/span><\/i>. He consumed it and it consumed him. Dad not once made me read my Bible. He never lectured me about it. He simply read it and lived it. I watched and somewhere along the line, I started reading and loving it too.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Dad loved the Bible\u2019s promises and prophecies best. He took them with the utmost seriousness. He believed every human interest and ambition had to be subordinated to them. Like a \u201clamp unto my feet\u201d (Psalm 119:105), the Word reveals who God is and where He is taking us. The Word illuminates who we are \u2014 and aren\u2019t \u2014 as well. \u201cFind yourself in the Word, son,\u201d Dad would tell me. \u201cDon\u2019t flinch at what you see.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
When I came to know Jesus at a young age, Dad told me to wait to be baptized. He didn\u2019t doubt that I knew Jesus, but he wanted to make sure I knew myself. I waited, and when I finally made my public confession and was baptized in my teens, I knew my need. Like a two-edged sword, the Word of God had cut deep, exposing every thought and intent of my heart (Hebrews 4:12). Like a mirror, it showed me what manner of man I was: unclean and undone (James 1:22-25). Dad taught me to never forget what I saw and to never stop looking at who I am and where God is taking me.<\/span><\/p>\n
Dad died and was buried here in Jasper the week of Thanksgiving. I\u2019m writing now only a few weeks later, trying to wrap my mind around our loss. But what is clear to me is how thankful I am to God for my dad, who advocated the Bible so honestly and passionately. I dedicate this BA to him. He knew his Lord, and he knew himself by the light of God\u2019s Word. And he gave that gift to me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
I love you, Dad! Thanks!<\/span><\/p>\n
\u2014 Jason Overman<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Father\u2019s Gift My first Bible advocate wasn\u2019t the magazine. I\u2019d seen it around the house growing up, but I didn\u2019t pay it much attention until later in life. No, my first advocate didn\u2019t come to me on paper but in a person. My dad.\u00a0 From my earliest memories, I watched him reading his well-worn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":29547,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,36,2431],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n