January 2004
At the beginning of this year, I was thinking about a pastor we once had who gave us a Scripture passage each January as our “Verse for the Year.” It seemed a good idea to give one to each of our children. As I prayed for our children and grandchildren, specific verses came to mind for each one. I put the verses on cards and, after explaining why, gave the cards to them.
Our youngest granddaughter, who has not yet considered Christianity, received John 3:16. When she read it, she looked at her older sister and said, “I don’t understand it. Do you understand yours?”
Her sister said she did. The younger one looked puzzled. “Do you understand mine?” When she got an affirmative response, she frowned again. Then her sister, who had accepted Christ some years before, said, “Just keep reading it. One day you will understand it.”
Without realizing it, she gave an incredibly wise response. Sometimes biblical realities can be explained, but with a verse as easy to understand as John 3:16, it seemed obvious that the younger one needed time for the Holy Spirit to open her eyes.
In 1 Corinthians 2, the Apostle Paul explains that God’s wisdom is hidden to the “natural” man. By this he means that God’s words are a mystery to those who do not have the Spirit of God living in them. He says we need to have them “revealed to us by His Spirit.”
I can vouch for that. When I was about thirteen, I decided a “real woman” read the Bible every day, just like my mother did. So I read it, but I didn’t understand any of it. Oh, I knew the meaning of the words, but they held no significance whatsoever. Further, I read it every day for about sixteen years, and still did not understand what it meant.
Finally, everything changed. In one day, one Scripture verse (in another book) jumped out at me. Suddenly I realized that Jesus was God, come in the flesh to die for my sins. At that moment, I believed in Him and gave my life to Him. At that moment, I also began to understand the Bible.
Now I also understand the problem I had not understanding it. For years, I was such a vain, proud person. I did everything right and no one else knew as much as I did. My life was in control and I controlled it. Then, it fell apart. My marriage failed. I was a failure. That perch was knocked out from under me. I could see things now that I could not see before. One thing I saw was that I did not do everything right. I needed help. I also realized I did not know everything. I needed both knowledge and wisdom. I started looking for it, but the book I was reading that day was about to take me in the wrong direction.
God, in His great wisdom and grace, decided to turn me around. He used the one verse of Scripture in that book to open my eyes. When I saw Him and realized what He had done for me, I tossed the book aside and began reading The Book with renewed enthusiasm and an understanding that had not been there before.
I know my granddaughters will be blessed by their verses for this year. While the younger one does not understand her verse, as the older one said, she will get it. Actually, knowing the way God works, that verse will eventually take hold of her!
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Monday, July 30, 2018
Monday, August 14, 2017
How we get our image of God .......... Parables 627
January 26, 1999
A talk show hostess interviewed a black woman who fought illness, poverty and racial tension. She became a successful business woman and mother. Her family, part of the studio audience, rose to bless her. One son said something like, “Mother, thank you for allowing me to stay in your body and be born, for raising your family and sticking it out for us.”
Most of us know that God tells us to honor our father and mother. What we do not realize is how much our children depend on us for their concept of God. That is, if they see us as loving and wise, they think God is loving and wise also.
However, children whose parents are thoughtless, selfish or abusive have a difficult time imagining God as someone who could possibly care for them. To them, the word ‘father’ can have unpleasant connotations. When they hear it they feel, at the least, disappointment and are often angry and fearful, emotions that carry over to their concept of a heavenly Father.
The father image that God choose to use in His revelation of Himself was never intended to be a bad image. God created marriage and the family unit. His design included loving parents who give their best effort to raise children who love, obey and respect them.
Occasionally, we meet a family that seems close to this ideal. I think of the Pattisons, a couple whose lives recently ended in a car accident. Married 63 years, they had sons and daughters who honored and respected them because this couple loved and nurtured their children.
Yet for many, the image of father and family is deeply marred, not because poor parenting is God’s pattern but because human nature, in general, has also been marred. Even the Pattisons were not perfect yet many more families fall far beneath their standard.
In a marred family, parents resent their children. Children curse their parents. Sometimes, headlines tell of tragic situations in which parent or child goes so far as to injure or even kill others in their family. How can this be?
God made man and woman in His image. That is, we have characteristics that are like God and that reflect His nature. These characteristics appear whenever we selflessly give time and effort toward raising our children. They also appear when our children honor and obey us.
Yet the nature of God in us is marred by sin. Who is perfectly like Him? The Bible says, “There is none righteous, no not one . . . . All have fallen short of the glory of God.”
To get back on track, we need our sin and imperfections forgiven by God and cleansed from our lives. The Pattisons experienced that, even before they were wed. For most of their lives, they honored God in their personal life and in their home and community. God blessed them in return. Their children love and serve God and are wise and loving parents themselves.
The lady on the television show also honored God. She said that she owed all the good that was happening in her life to Him. Proverbs 31 says, “A woman that fears the LORD, she shall be praised” and that “Her children arise up, and call her blessed.” What a joy it must have been for her to have her son rise up on national television and bless her.
These and others like them are examples of how to be a great parent. They clearly show that when we obey God, we are not only living up to His intention in our creation but making a difference in the lives of our children.
A talk show hostess interviewed a black woman who fought illness, poverty and racial tension. She became a successful business woman and mother. Her family, part of the studio audience, rose to bless her. One son said something like, “Mother, thank you for allowing me to stay in your body and be born, for raising your family and sticking it out for us.”
Most of us know that God tells us to honor our father and mother. What we do not realize is how much our children depend on us for their concept of God. That is, if they see us as loving and wise, they think God is loving and wise also.
However, children whose parents are thoughtless, selfish or abusive have a difficult time imagining God as someone who could possibly care for them. To them, the word ‘father’ can have unpleasant connotations. When they hear it they feel, at the least, disappointment and are often angry and fearful, emotions that carry over to their concept of a heavenly Father.
The father image that God choose to use in His revelation of Himself was never intended to be a bad image. God created marriage and the family unit. His design included loving parents who give their best effort to raise children who love, obey and respect them.
Occasionally, we meet a family that seems close to this ideal. I think of the Pattisons, a couple whose lives recently ended in a car accident. Married 63 years, they had sons and daughters who honored and respected them because this couple loved and nurtured their children.
Yet for many, the image of father and family is deeply marred, not because poor parenting is God’s pattern but because human nature, in general, has also been marred. Even the Pattisons were not perfect yet many more families fall far beneath their standard.
In a marred family, parents resent their children. Children curse their parents. Sometimes, headlines tell of tragic situations in which parent or child goes so far as to injure or even kill others in their family. How can this be?
God made man and woman in His image. That is, we have characteristics that are like God and that reflect His nature. These characteristics appear whenever we selflessly give time and effort toward raising our children. They also appear when our children honor and obey us.
Yet the nature of God in us is marred by sin. Who is perfectly like Him? The Bible says, “There is none righteous, no not one . . . . All have fallen short of the glory of God.”
To get back on track, we need our sin and imperfections forgiven by God and cleansed from our lives. The Pattisons experienced that, even before they were wed. For most of their lives, they honored God in their personal life and in their home and community. God blessed them in return. Their children love and serve God and are wise and loving parents themselves.
The lady on the television show also honored God. She said that she owed all the good that was happening in her life to Him. Proverbs 31 says, “A woman that fears the LORD, she shall be praised” and that “Her children arise up, and call her blessed.” What a joy it must have been for her to have her son rise up on national television and bless her.
These and others like them are examples of how to be a great parent. They clearly show that when we obey God, we are not only living up to His intention in our creation but making a difference in the lives of our children.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)