Over
the last few years I have found myself in a sort of weird environment! When we returned to California after
attending Bible College in Oklahoma, I suddenly found our home void of children
since they were all grown up and pursuing their dreams and my wife’s mental
abilities being savagely attacked to the point that in many physical respects… she was not quite at home with me either. Please don’t miss understand me here! My stand of faith is in the Word of God and
in Peter’s’ declaration of Jesus’ finished work of the cross that : “…by whose stripes you (Piper, in this case)
were healed.” (I Peter 2:24 MKJV)
But while that Word is working in her body, we still have to deal and
live with the physical symptoms.
During
all this time I have thought a lot on our marriage and family through the years
and wondered what and where I could have done better. And like most of us, I have found areas that
I could have improved on as well as things I would not repeat if I could do it
over again! Lately though, I have come
to the conclusion that I did the best I could with what I knew to do at the time
and with the resources we had at our disposal.
Today,
when I look at my kids, their growing families and where they are in their place
in life and the decisions that they are making, I realize that everything my
wife and I attempted to do, whether successful or not, whether the results were
positive or negative have been of aid to them.
It is interesting and exciting for me to observe that they are not
making the same mistakes that we did (and
if they did, they cleaned it up a lot faster than we did!) and used our
mistakes or miss-steps as a lesson NOT to be followed! On the other hand, they have followed through
on the good lessons and used those as foundational stones in their lives.
The
most wonderful inheritance that they have continued and developed is their love
for the Lord and their sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Because of that one success, I feel that
everything else comes in second place!
My point is that as parents we will make mistakes with our kids, but the
one redeeming factor is to be an example of Papa God’s love, peace, joy and
patience to them… as well as to the kids
in your neighborhood, church and city!
I think that this is the best gift that we can give to the younger generations! As you study today’s Friday – The Third Week
of Advent reading you’ll come to understand that as it obviously worked for
Mary and Joseph in the raising of their son, it will work for you!
Christmas Kids…
Friday, the third
week of Advent
Today’s
Readings: Proverbs 22:6 / Luke 2:39-40
As
we near the conclusion of the story of the first Christmas, our portion of
scripture in Luke infuses with Matthew’s details concerning Joseph, Mary and
Jesus’ escape to Egypt and their eventual return to Israel. The author makes a point to declare that “they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.” (Luke 2:39 KJV) It must have been very important to God that
Jesus be raised in the familiarity of His earthly parent’s home town. To have the comfort and security of living
amongst family and friends who knew and cared for them.
From
the scarce amount of information that the canonical scriptures give us, we can come
to the conclusion that Jesus lived an ordinary childhood and experienced the
same pleasures, trials and challenges that all children do as they grow up. But verse 40 establishes some very important
details about His childhood and the way He was raised.
I
believe that this small section of our story is to be read as a tribute to
Joseph and Mary! The NKJV says that “the
Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of
God was upon Him.” The God’s Word
translation ends the verse by stating that “He
gained favor from God and people.”
These statements make it clear that Jesus’ earthly parents taught Him by
precept and (probably more importantly)
by example the things of God. They did
whatever it took to establish Mary’s first born son in the understanding, trust
and love of His Father God. And this was
not accomplished at the expense of a natural education. While Jesus was a well-rounded individual in
His secular and spiritual education, what preeminently came forth in His adult
life and ministry was the firm foundation of the Word that was put into Him,
primarily by the effort of His parents.
I
think that this is one of the greatest lessons that parents, grandparents and
all relatives alike should learn to follow in this life! We have a responsibility to the children and
youth around us to be the best example of God’s love and holy living that we
can be. I must confess that this was one
of the primary reasons that I gave up having an occasional glass of wine or a
beer many years ago. As I prayed and
agonized over this, I came one day to the realization of the poor example that
I was setting for my own children as well as for the ones that I ministered to
in our church and as a soccer coach!
Many
times the church will tend to attach Jesus’ unquestioning trust in God to His
being the Son of God. But Jesus lived a
normal life as the Son of Man until the Holy Spirit came upon Him following His
baptism by John the Baptist. At that
point I don’t believe that He was suddenly endued with all spiritual wisdom and
understanding, but came to a much greater understanding of all the teaching
that His earthy parents had bestowed upon Him as He grew up under their love
and care. And you know what? It is
never too late to start, especially if this wasn’t the pattern you demonstrated
when your kids were at home! I have
developed a stronger relationship now with my adult children than when they
were younger. Now it is increasingly
more exciting and rewarding to share the Word and our experiences with our
faith to each other as never before!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your thoughts are welcomed. Please keep them within the context and flavor of this blog.