Today’s Scripture Reading (July 18,
2015): Exodus 13
One of the
essential things that we do is teach our kids. We are not given care of them
for almost two decades of their lives just so that they can learn everything
about life from their friends or experience. Those who advocate that experience
is the best teacher has not really thought things through. If we learned
everything by experience we would not make it into our adult years – something would
have already killed us. Some recreational drugs become highly addictive after
the first experience. Our kids need us to guide them through. And, yes,
sometimes we will feel like killjoys, but our kids will quite literally die if
we abdicate our responsibility to lead.
And the most
important areas of guidance is in the area of religion. Some parents seem to
think that it is enlightened to let their kids make the choice. I can’t think of
anything more irresponsible. As parents, and as grandparents, we need to guide
our children into faith. It is too important a decision to leave up to them. We
need to be able to articulate why we believe, and why we feel it is important
to believe. We need to tell those that follow us the positives that God does
for us because the world will quite quickly furnish them with all of the
negative elements of religion. We need to be able to fight against the common
misconceptions (like religion is the reason why we have wars. The truth is that
religion is often the excuse, it is seldom the reason). We need to be able to
lead our kids toward good. Every generation, every faith is threatened with
extinction. If no one picks up the baton, then the faith will die. And I believe
if that were to happen that the world would be a much sadder place (and I am
not speaking of just Christianity, all faiths give us the potential to make a
positive difference in this world. I am not saying that I believe that all
faiths are equal, or that there are not eternal differences between the faiths,
but every faith that seeks beyond itself in trying to find God invites the
worshipper to see this beautiful planet in a different way.)
And so
Father tells son. Mother tells daughter. We invite our children into the rich
meaning of the rituals with which we pursue after God. We tell them of the
things that God has done. For the Jewish faith, the story of the Passover and
the events that God did in the midst of the people of Israel as he brought them
out of slavery was very important. The underlying message for each generation
was that if it were not for God, we would still be slaves. We weren’t ingenious
enough to figure our way out. You may have the blood of King David in you, but
if it were not for God, King David would have been nothing more than a lowly
slave. God sent Moses and God led Moses and Israel out of their captivity and
into a new and better life that they didn’t even dream was possible. God did
it!
For the
Christian, the Passover ritual takes on a fresh and new meaning. We understand
that we were slaves too – slaves that could only be released from our bondage
by the perfect sacrifice of the perfect lamb – Jesus. This he did for us so
that we could live. This he did so that we are capable of making this world a
better place, a more beautiful place – even for those who refuse to believe.
Without God none of this would be possible. This is what God has done for me.
And this is what I need to tell my children.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus
14
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