Good Morning!
I love spending time with my kids. They are without a doubt a joy to be around. Even when they are acting like, well, kids it still is something I look forward to every day. Part of it comes from the fact that they act like me. I mean one of the blessings of children is having that bond of human genetics which speak louder than any other emotions. There is a real honest-to-goodness tie in that’s kind of hard to explain, but always shouts at you when you look at them. It’s part of the reason why we’ll do just about anything for them, even when sometimes it’s not the wisest thing to do. A thing I’ve begun to wrestle with as my youngin’s get older is that in a period much closer than I’d like to admit they are going to be adults and no matter how much I might wish it to be different they will be in a position where they’ll be having to make their own decisions about life, what to eat that day, what time to go to bed, etc… all stuff my wife and I have been doing for them for a while now.
At the same time there is a sense of freedom which comes from that as well. I’ve had to come to terms with and now understand that there is a joy involved here as you watch them make their way in the world. It’s cool to see them hit milestones you once hit and somehow survived. I’ve joked the last several days that if I can pass a driver’s test and survive twenty-six years of driving than my oldest daughter has it made. As I’ve been told by others who have already walked down this road it not only picks up steam, but each step gets higher, and in many ways more exciting than the one before. I am very much looking forward to this stage in my kiddoe’s lives. Releasing the bird from the nest and viewing them fly from a distance, not meddling and micro-managing their existence, just letting them flap their own wings is at the same time difficult, and fun to watch.
Yet there is of course some fear with that as well. The world is a dangerous place full of folks who mean them harm. A large measure of a parent’s responsibility is to prepare them for that next step in life. To make sure their foundation is strong enough to withstand the waves of temptation that will strike them like Hurricane Hugo. Thinking through all this has me remembering something similar about which our reliance on the Lord God has some relevance.
In today’s prayer and worship help we are going to think a little bit about how Jehovah prepares us as we grow in maturity in life and faith.
There are several places in the Bible to which we could go to illustrate this point. One that comes to mind is Psalm 103. In those words of David penned to give thanks to the LORD we see several aspects that show us where, and how, God has grown His children from faith-to-faith. The king’s opening thoughts move to the redemption provided by His heavenly Father. It’s this kind of thing that highlights the type of Father our God is. His love for us is an everlasting love, and He has loved us from before the foundation of the world. (Eph. 1:3-6). Despite our spiritual rebellion against Him, something many parents can identify with, He has shown mercy to His beloved, as v. 2-4 of Psalm 103 display, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies…” There we see in exquisite detail the depth by which we are moved to praise Him. These benefits purchased by Christ are ours because the Father has declared them to be ours by placing us in Jesus. That union with the Son of God not only proves for us the kinship we have in the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, but reminds us that if He would never forsake His own (Psalm 16:10) He will also likewise never forget our place in His family home. In this portion of Psalm 103 we are led to understand the main means by which we are led forward in life by the love of our Father, for He is the one who gives us life, not just the physical life of creation, but in some sense more importantly the spiritual life of rebirth and being born again, that we“…should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).
If our spiritual and physical life can be attributed only to the gift of God, then Paul speaking of his own calling to bring Christ to others gives us another way our Father seeks to mature in His time and in His way. The Apostle’s purpose was to , “…present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” (Col. 1:28). How was he going to do that? Well look at the earlier part of the verse, “…Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom…” The presentation of the gospel message found alone in Jesus Christ are the means by which the aforementioned salvation and spiritual rebirth are made available and known to the believer. The power of the preaching of the Word comes directly from the promises which are yeah and amen in the mouth of our Heavenly Father, and that preaching continues to fulfill its promise by continuing to do the work for which it was sent, to show us our sin, remind us of the sanctifying work of the Scriptures, to grow us in likeness and repair the image in which we were made. This likewise takes place in times of devotional study and bible times together with the people of God.
In closing, I’ve forgotten maybe my favorite part of hanging out with my own kids and that is talking with them. Being able to conversate is not something it take a lot for me to do, as you know, but it’s also not something I take for granted with my four. Likewise, when I think about how those times of sitting on the porch shooting the breeze is probably the best teaching time I have it also makes me think of the blessings by which our Father God also speaks to us, and that is through the mercy of prayer. What an amazing gift of grace that in the midst of hearing the voice of the Lord in His word that we have the right and privilege just to sit and voice our concerns and praises to the very ears of Jehovah and know that He listens to every word and answers our every supplication. Prayer teaches us much about who our Father is and why He alone is worthy to praised in love and devotion. Ever more the reason to not neglect these two, of so many that could be named, means of growing and maturing in faith and affection to our God.
Something else to consider:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/how-prayer-affects-our-spiritual-formation/
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church