He gave sight to the blind, new legs to the crippled. He fed the hungry. He cared for widows and orphans. He tossed out demons, and He beat Satan in one-on-one. In short, He was others oriented, needs based, and He always had time to do good. He was an example of mercy, grace, peace, love and His parting words to us were "follow My lead and do as I did" meaning "I'm leaving you in charge of the store" or "It's up to you now."
What! We're supposed to heal people? We're supposed to give sight to the blind, legs to the crippled? No, that was the life of Jesus, that was God's specific will for the life of Jesus, not us. Ours is simply to follow the example and the direction of His lifestyle; spreading mercy, grace, peace, love and dispensing grace to a world that so needs it. All of these things are doable. His life was, and is, the theological definition of success.
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If this is what we want for our children: to first be successful by God's standards, then by everyone else's, we must pave the way, we must show them how. By example, we must be like Jesus in concrete ways: in our relationships with them, in our homes, in all of the places they see us; teaching them what it means to be people of grace, to be people of peace and love, to be people of God. And as they learn, they're going to be in a position to more readily accept this grace into their lives when that time comes, and then they will be better prepared to live that same lifestyle. They will be counterculture, they will be different. But they will be following God's will for their lives.
Our kids will be shaped by lots of things and by many venues. But we have the best shot. How are we doing with our opportunities? If we don't sell out to God, do it right and do it soon, this world will move closer to being toast. Hope is fading. Time is fleeting.
Ever put a three-year-old to bed and then all of a sudden you realize they are headed off to middle school? And then you turn around and they're getting married and they're gone. Our parental responsibility has time parameters attached. No matter if you are a parent, a grandparent, a teacher, a significant other, no matter what your role, we only have so much time. Our kids are growing up; they are growing up in a world that pushes them to grow up even faster. Hope is fading. Time is fleeting.
Since not only the future of our children, and in some degree the entire world, awaits our decision, what will it be? Our answer will have profound consequences, and they just might be riding home from church with you today.
