Read today’s texts first: Isaiah 25-28; Hebrews 13
MAXIMize YOUR DAY
Memory verses learned as a child
are seeds of faith we harvest later in life.
are seeds of faith we harvest later in life.
Memory verses learned as a child stay with you. The testimonies I’ve heard in 50 plus years of ministry are strikingly similar, from the youth I pastored to the young adults I taught at Bible college to the adults of NorthRidge to the seniors I work with at Buchanan. Most of them started with seeds of faith planted as a child, possibly in Sunday School, Wee College, Catechism, summer camps, Vacation Bible School or bedtime Bible stories. This should encourage every parent and every children’s worker in every church. It should also give hope to parents whose children started out well but may have since wandered from their childlike faith.
All of that came to mind when I spotted in our readings today several familiar Bible verses learned as a child that I will never forget. At first they seemed so out of context with some of the violence surrounding them, but upon second thought I saw them as hinge points. When we put our faith in the God of peace, when He is the foundation of our lives, we are safe from the chaos and confusion experienced by those who reject God.
Listen and be encouraged by these familiar words: You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal (26:3,4); So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed” (28:16); Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (13:8).
To these familiar words that shaped the direction of my life before I fully understood them, I would add this blessing memorized later in life: May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen (13:20,21).
No comments:
Post a Comment