Train up a child in
the way
he should go, and
when
he is old he will not
depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
And because you are
sons,
God has sent forth
the Spirit
of His son into your
hearts,
crying out,
“Abba, Father!”
Ephesians 4:6
This day
above all other days I am reminded of the truth of this wonderful proverb: God
has blessed the rearing that I received from my mother, and my father. This
song: “There’s A Bible On The Table,” and the verse that states that dad after
dinner read to the family the Bible, is exactly what I needed even though I did
what I should not have done and sinned. It was that Sunday, (Don’t remember the
month), pastor Dean Hudson was preaching and at the end of the service gave an
altar call. That was the day that my parents who lived as Christians and taught
their children what it means to be a Christian gave way to the faith God
implanted into me and I as one of His sons, now believed: The Spirit crying
out, “Abba, Father!” Mom died twelve years ago with the family all around her bed,
and I and my Sister Susan standing at her head, even singing some of mom’s
favorite hymns. Sad, of course, yet, a joy to know that my mom and later at the
age of 92 my dad, both have now gone home to be with God, and were one of His
sons and daughters. It is us; parents, who hare called to live and teach
Christianity to our children and even when they go astray believe that God has
put His spirit into them and there will come a day when they will return to
God. The day is coming when they will no longer by absent and eternity will by
ours with them and all of God’s children, no more death, pain, and sorrow. Joy
fills my soul and heart as I think upon this fact: God will bless your and
mine, effort to live our faith and to teach our children about Jesus Christ. It
is not soccer, or dancing, or any sport, or anything placed above that which we
as Christians called to do: teach ourselves, and our children about the Lord
Jesus Christ. If there is time for other things: then do it, but do it by
living the faith God has given: be the witness you are called to be and left
here on earth until you either go to God in death, or be called with Jesus on
the Last Day. It is never too late! Start now!
Paul
speaking to the Romans, none Jews, and to those Jews who by means of the
dispersion lived in Rome said: “Ιδε” and imperative and middle word that means
Behold, or look, and interjection calling to their attention: “Indeed you
are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and mike your boast in God and know His
will, and approved the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the
law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to
those who are in darkness, and instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes,
having the form of knowledge and truth in the law” (Romans 2:17–20). A
major problem with the Jews and many Christians today is that of legalism. Not
the keeping of the Ten Commandments, that is not negotiable; it is that there
is much addition to the law and by keeping those additions to the law you
boast. Look! I do this, or that, or speak in tongues, or attend meetings,
shouting, dancing, and acting slain, etc., and of course the minor law of
things, minor inasmuch as they are done without solemnity, that are important
such as communion, when, where, how, who, can partake, and have all forms of
instruction by means of such legalism that your are so confident that you are a
guide to the blind. Are you? Do you study, read the early Church fathers, and
others even though you don’t, or have not counsel to read, those who may oppose
your suppositions? Do you inspect what you expect? Or is it just a form:
“μόρφωσις” an appearance, a semblance, of knowledge of God, or do you and have
your truly worked out the Scriptures so that you fully are not just making some
scheme according to your presuppositions, or doctrines that you have accepted,
blindly if not inspected.
Listen to
Paul: “You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who
preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, ‘Do not commit
adultery,’ do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You
who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?
for ‘the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,’ as it is
written” (Romans 2:21–24; cf. Isaiah 52:5; Ezekiel 36:22). Is it as the old
adage goes; “Don’t do as I do, do as I say;” apply to you?
This is our
yoke, it may seem heavy but it is not heavy for we have the Holy Spirit to aid
us in our search for the truth, and for our daily living as a witness, and
ambassador for Jesus Christ. Maybe you did not have parents that taught you the
Bible, don’t fret; you have the Bible, and good teachers of the truth from
God’s word and not from their own opinions, and for those who have had good
Bible teaching parents and have wandered from the truth, return, NOW!
Let me end
this blog this way: PRAISE GOD! For my parents!
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
And whose
hope is the LORD,
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads
out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when the heat comes; But its
Leaf will
be green, and will not be
Anxious in the year of drought.
Jeremiah 17:7–8
You are the salt of the earth
Richard L. Crumb
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