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By Pastor Randy Reid/ Clanton First Assembly of God

My dad was not a big man. Standing at about 5’9” or so, he was not the towering figure that stood head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd. However, growing up I was convinced that my dad was the strongest man in the world. I not only believed that, but I would declare as much on the school playground. It’s not that dad projected a tough-buy persona. I mean he was a faithful, loving pastor, for goodness sake. Yet, the way he guarded our family and protected us from the harmful elements of life gave me confidence in his ability to quell any threat to our safety.

My dad raised his family in a rural area of the county about 10 miles from downtown Mobile. We lived on a main highway leading away from town, which was regularly traveled by vagrants and backpackers who were always looking for a meal and a place to stay. If they stopped our neighbor’s house for help, they would promptly direct them to the “preacher’s house” where he lived with his wife and 11 children. Yes, we have had many colorful characters knock on our door at all hours of the day and night looking for a food and or shelter for the night, and they were never turned away. Of all the strangers we sheltered in our home over the years, I was never afraid as long as Daddy was in the house. I knew Dad was our protector and would allow nothing to harm us.

The confidence I had in my dad reminds me of the word of Jesus in Mark 3:27, “No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.”

In other words, a thief or a robber cannot plunder a home or harm the family unless he first disables or in some manner renders the man of house incapacitated. I have never met a man who would willfully allow himself to be disabled and thereby expose his family to danger.

However, we have a spiritual enemy who has been very successful at binding up many dads rendering them useless in terms of protecting their family. A thief will not confront a man to his face. Instead, he will sneak up and jump him from behind and before he realizes it dad fines himself bound by an enemy who want to plunder his home and destroy his family.

The kind of strong man Jesus is talking about is one that remains steadfastly committed to guarding his family from evil. He stands at the door of his home and watches to make sure nothing gets past him that would be a threat to his family. He is not one that gets so distracted by money, vocation or hobbies that he fails to see the evil that is slipping past him into his home. If dads are not committed to being the strong man of the family and guarding their home, before long there will be no home.