Teach Them Well

Thursday, November 9, 2023

O my people, listen to my instructions.  Open your ears to what I am saying, for I will speak to you in a parable.  I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us.  We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.  For he issued his laws to Jacob; he gave his instructions to Israel.  He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them—even the children not yet born—and they in turn will teach their own children.  So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.  Psalm 78:1-7

If children are not taught well the lessons of how God’s Word is to be obeyed, we have no hope of having a sane, kind, and sustainable world.

In an age when everything must have an immediate solution, there is little hope of a “viral” response to this text.  Still, this text contains the ultimate solution to the madness that envelopes the 21^st century culture…to wit:  If children are not taught well the lessons of how God’s Word is to be obeyed, we have no hope of having a sane, kind, and sustainable world.

The Psalmist said it clearly, that if we forget God’s sovereign power (shown in His miracles and creation) complete generations of humans will cease to know God, and will therefore, set their hope on possessions and selfish ambitions.  I cannot think of a better characterization of what is happening in our world.  In my lifetime I have watched the disappearing act in churches, and the accompanying disregarding of fearing God (in the sense of honoring He who created and sustains us):

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.  He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.  He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.  Everything was created through him and for him.  He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.  Colossians 1:15-17

Putting this all together:  

     1.    God, through Jesus, the Christ, created everything, including all humanity, and keeps it going every second of every millennium, and is therefore the owner of all of it…and us.

     2.    He has given it all as a gift, sealed by the promise of His Spirit, the result of the blood of His Son, Jesus shed on Calvary’s tree.

3.    That requires a response of respect and reverence for He who owns us, loves us, empowers us, and sets us free to live creative, constructive, kind, and loving lives.

     4.    That shows up in many ways; the first (and foremost) of which is worship!

     5.    We are increasingly doing a pitiful job of that response

     6.    The way to reverse it is for families to return to a priority of worship, Bible study, and prayer, so that the children in those families will learn how to really live.

For You Today 

What I have shared is not new, nor is it flashy.  It’s not likely to make any headlines, and it’s not a single app you can get on Google, where you can hit the button and solve all your problems.  Rather, it’s a mindset, a worldview, a plain distillation of what Scripture covers from Genesis to Revelation – humankind’s responsibility to worship God all the days we live, and do whatever’s necessary to pass-along the faith to that next generation. 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Today’s title Image from Pixabay.com  

Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

From Whence We are Drawn

Thursday, March 5, 2020

I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  2 Timothy 1:3-7

When you look at some family photos (in this case spanning nearly 100 years), it’s hard to ignore similarities.  My dad’s childhood pictures and those of his great-grandchildren, make family resemblance, the well from which we are drawn, an unmistakable connection.  

In this particular family album, the little guy born in 1918 and the little guy born in 2008 not only look alike, both were born baseball players, and both were frequently found behind a catcher’s mask.  

The link in between 1918 and 2008 (born in 1947) preferred third base but was known to catch a few games in high school.  Some links in the chain are undeniable.There is another set of links in that which is passed along; in Timothy’s case it was the faith, a strong sense of commitment to God’s promises, passed along from Lois to Eunice, and now found blossoming in Timothy; grandmother, to mother, to son.  Paul called it a gift that was placed in him by his upbringing, and an active calling which, by the laying on of hands God had bestowed on the young man to be a pastor.  Now Paul was urging his young protégé to stir-up that gift, to fan the embers into a useful fire.

For some of us it only takes a little reminder, a nudge in the right direction to get us started in the holy work of building God’s kingdom.  For others, including yours truly, the 1947 vintage, it takes a two-by-four applied to the noggin; some of us are slow learners.

For You Today

I see two lessons for us:

1.     Being Timothy, we need to review from whence we came, and how that faith was entrusted to us.  We need to respond to God’s calling without fear or selfishness.

2.     Being Paul, some of us need to grow beyond just thinking about our own work in the ministry and become an encouraging force to help draw others into their calling.

Both lessons require faith, commitment, and surrender to the will of God.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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[1] For more posts on 2 Timothy 1:3-7 see Facing Your Fear and a
       4-Part series on The Fear Factor:  Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©