Thinking at 4 am

I've heard this saying, "More is caught than taught" for many years from many preachers.  I'm beginning to find that I disagree with that. 

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

1Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: 2That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. 3Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.

4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

Note especially verse 7's command to teach the children diligently.  

We can move directly to Proverbs and read the number of times the author begs his son to hear the teaching that is being given.  Wisdom begs in the streets for us to listen.  

Why am I thinking about this at 4am?  A question about teaching religion to her childrencame up among a group of ladies that I know .  She wants to but she doesn't know how to.  It was a good question and it made me think.

We can stand all day and tell our children the "what's" of our religion, but that cannot accomplish what we want.  Our children will rebel over constant "what's."  They will never understand the heart of Christ if they only have the "what's."  If you give them the "why's" behind the "what's" you help them see Christ.  You help them know how to know God.  

When the Christian life was still new to me, I was taught that asking why was a form of rebellion.  What I am learning is the asking why and getting a good answer enhances understanding and allows me to follow with my heart.  

I've been watching so many young people turn away from the faith of their fathers and I've sought a long time for answers.  I have a couple of reasons, I think.  One reason is that we don't have their hearts.  Another reason is that we expect obedience without knowledge.  

But maybe those two reasons are parts of the same puzzle piece.  Maybe we don't have their hearts because we aren't taking the time it requires to teach them why.

Friend

Sarah is involved in the local early intervention program for her speech issues.  The school she attends has children with various issues ranging from speech to autism of varying degrees.  Of the several things that I like, one in particular stands out.

This is the use of the word "friend" when the teachers are talking about any of the students.  They will walk in to the classroom and cheerily say, "Good morning, Friends!"  They will try to cheer up an unhappy child by saying, "Oh, there are our friends! Let's go see them!"  It isn't unusual for them to point to another child and simply help the child they are working with to acknowledge the other child by saying something like, "Oh look! There is our friend, Johnny! Let's say, 'Hi, Johnny!'"  

This is a very powerful word.  This word creates a calmness  in some very intense situations.  Granted, the teachers are almost saints with the patience they have with these kids, but "friend" is such a perfect word.

Imagine what Jesus did for us in John 15:15--Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

He calls us friends. 

Have you been there?

Sometimes we look at Bible characters and we judge them as making the wrong decision based upon what we believe we would have done in the same situation or based upon some assumption we have made regarding their situation that the Bible never really tells us.  I'm thinking particularly about Naomi right now.

Naomi went to Moab with her husband and sons; her sons married Moabite women while they were there.  The three men subsequently died.  Naomi is left alone with two daughters-in-law.  She is broken and sad.

Now we can assume that she was part of the decision making process in going down to Moab; the Bible never tells us that and there is a good chance that in that era she had no say in the matter.  Her husband and sons made the decision; the woman followed.   It is as much a possibility that she knew they shouldn't go but the decision was made.  Yet, here we are, centuries later, telling her she shouldn't have gone.  Let me say that until you have been in her position, you cannot say that she did wrong in going.  It may be that she submitted to the decision as she was supposed to and the end was in God's hands.

Then, her husband and sons die.  Her heart is broken and she's in a strange land with no family.  She urges her daughters-in-law to stay with their people.  We are quick to get after her for that; have we bothered to think that she knows how lonely it is to live in a land full of people that are not your own?  Have we regarded that she is going back to Israel not knowing how she is going to eat or where she is going to sleep?  If she isn't going to be able to take care of herself, how will she care for another?  

We then get after Orpah for going home.  Why?  Perhaps she understands the depths of Naomi's loneliness and knows that the same will be her lot.  

Ruth left her home.  We do not know what kind of home Ruth came from; we do not know how much better her life may have been with Naomi.  Whatever was behind the scenes, we do know that Naomi had something in her that caused Ruth to choose her over her own people.  Can we then, in all honesty, call Naomi's faith into question?  

Naomi gets home and asks that people call her Mara for her life has been very hard.  We say her attitude is wrong and that she should be more joyful.  If you have never been under intense and drawn out heartache, you have no idea how that heartache changes you. It sobers you. It makes you more introspective.  The pain is real and it's there.  You don't get over it because it changes your thought processes.  The name change is merely a record of these changes that Naomi will never forget.  

I contend that Naomi was not as unspiritual as we like to make her out to be.  Ruth found enough in her to follow her to a land of people that had been taught to hate her.  Naomi was doing something well.

There are not really words that express

I have wondered what to say about the news coming out of Fairhaven.  In all honesty, I have to say that my sorrow over the information outweighs all words that would come to me.


Proverbs 16:6--By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.


Notice it is the fear of the Lord that causes men's hearts to change. It is not the fear of man.

Strange answers to prayer

I have, a few times, posted a link to Amy Bixby's blog.  Amy went home to Jesus this morning.  We thank Him for His goodness to her and her family, though as we watched, it was hard to understand some of the things that happened in the past few days.


1. One of the children came down with chicken pox.  The very hard decision was made to move the children out of the home with other families.  As it turns out, this was God's blessing for them.  Within 24 hours, Amy had confusion set in and the decision had to be made to move her into a hospice care home.  We had prayed that the children would not have to see her in a confused state.  We would not have chosen chicken pox, but God allowed them to be with their mother until the very last moment, and then moved them all out.


2. Amy's father-in-law had hand surgery that wasn't/isn't healing well and he had to go home to see his doctor about it.  While he was there, he had a heart attack.  We wouldn't normally think of a heart attack as a blessing, but this allowed him to be home for his children (although they are all adults, they adored their sister-in-law) for the moment of her passing.


My heart aches for my friend and her family, but I know that God was very good to them in Amy's last few days.  


If you pass by and read this, say a prayer for this family as they learn to live without wife and mother.  

Apologies

I think we should take a moment and understand what an apology looks like when it constitutes true sorrow over an act.  I have been seeing a lot of apologies fly around that make a mockery of repentance.


An apology that is truly meant is an apology that says, "I offended you when I(________).  I am so sorry that I came across/acted out so badly."   An apology that smells of truth owns the offense and humbly admits it to the person offended.


Unfortunately, too many apologies I have heard in the last 5 years go along the lines of, "I'm sorry you took what I said/did the wrong way.  You misunderstood me." When your apology makes you the victim, you have not apologized; you have made the offended person the person who is wrong for being offended.


Matthew 18:7 says, "Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!"


People are going to be offended, but Christ did not pronounce woe upon the offended; He proclaimed woe unto the offender.  If you know you have offended someone, make it right.  Just admit the person was offended and be sorry--truly sorry-- that you offended them.  It doesn't matter how silly it was.  Maybe the offended person was having a bad day; maybe you said something without knowing some of their history and you touched a sore spot.  It isn't that person's fault for being offended.  


We need to get over ourselves and take care of the offended instead of blaming them for being offended.

Ephesians

I'm not sure what it is, but when I read through Ephesians or listen through it, I always feel that I can stop after 1:6.

¹ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

² Grace [be] to you, and peace, from God our Father, and [from] the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ:

⁴ According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

⁵ Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

⁶ To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.