By Judge Charles A. Davis
Florida 2nd District Court of Appeals

As a child and teenager, I was keenly aware of my father’s lack of a formal education. Reared during the Great Depression, he obtained the equivalent of an eighth grade education. He left school at an early age to take a job to help support his family. But, he was a godly man, serving our small local church in just about every capacity. However, when he would get up to speak at church, his educated son would wince at his grammar and lack of public speaking ability.

However, over the years I have come to realize just how smart my father really is. You see, he is a storehouse of wisdom; not facts, grammatical techniques, or trained skills. His has a sincerity and love that is not capable of being described in the textbooks or of being taught. And, he has been one of the most effective teachers I have experienced in all my years of formal education.

My dad has taught me by his example the love of God, family, and others. His devotion to God’s Word has been exemplary. Let me explain. As a child and teenager, I would regularly see my dad, seated in the living room chair by the table with the lamp, reading his Bible. Now dad was not a good reader; he read aloud in a whisper, mouthing out each word. (My teachers told us not to do this!) Furthermore, for most of those years, he was reading the King James Version.

I knew it was a struggle for him to understand the English of 1611, but, over the years, he never tired of reading to himself each night. When he turned 75, I asked him how many times he had read through the Bible. (I knew he kept track of things like that.) He had records to show he had read the Bible through twenty-nine times. I still marvel when I think of that discipline. I rejoice my father modeled for me the importance of God’s Word. I have never doubted my interest and commitment to the study of the Bible is, in large part, influenced by my father’s example.

When I consider the impact my father has had on my life, I only pray my children have seen in me something of the character and commitment I have witnessed in my father over the years. His wisdom is founded on his fear (love) of God. In him I have seen the love of God expressed sacrificially in tangible ways to family, friends, and those in need. His character has been modeled so vividly I can not escape the influence he has had on me.

Now he is ill and sometimes does not even know who I am. He is not able to read his Bible or even attend church. But when the family gathers to eat, as disoriented as he may be, he prays as one who knows intimately the One to whom he is speaking.

I thank God for the example He has given me in my father. Oh that my children and grandchildren may be able to say of me as I say of my dad, “Thanks for being my example!”

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up (Deuteronomy 6:5?7 NIV).

Judge Charles A. Davis
Florida 2nd District Court of Appeals

Excerpted from On the Road, a men’s devotional book (2009: Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Publishing). A copy may be acquired at http://www.nph.com/.