Jesus says after listing a number of things that have characterized the last two millennia, “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: as soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” Matthew 24:32-34. If you read the text plainly without any pre-conceived notions, Jesus meant “this generation” to be the generation who could read the fig leaves, the generation who had seen “all these things happen.” The last things do not need a lot of time to occur, unlike the “gospel of the kingdom being preached in the whole world”; that has taken some time like the other things mentioned here with it. “The great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again” (Matthew 24:21) has clearly not yet happened; but it could happen in a generation, and Jesus says it will be cut short, else no one will survive. This is why Jesus says these last things will happen in “this generation.” He is giving hope to those who see the “unequaled distress” that this distress will be cut short for those who do indeed experience it. This can take place quickly when the time is ripe for it, which could be now or very soon, certainly in the next two decades considering the speed at which the present world is moving.

The point is that many believing Christians are being lulled into thinking that the Lord’s return cannot be that soon for any number of personal reasons and plans, not necessarily the signs Jesus speaks of in this Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 and 25. Quite clearly, we cannot and do not know the day or the hour of His return, not even He knew it by His own admission. But it is precisely an event for which many will be totally unprepared. The thrust of Jesus’ words (now and in the following parables of Matthew 25) were not that we might find out the day or the time, or try to fix it precisely. The whole intent of His warnings is that we might be concerned about the nature of our actions and priorities today! What are we about, and what does our behavior and what we are doing with our daily lives say about who we are? Our actions, our works, signify who we are; it fixes our identity.  In Jesus’ own words, are we “sheep or goat, and do we show it by how we are living and thinking today; for there is no time to make up for it or create it “out of whole cloth” when the lightening begins to flash. That moment is a split second, and that time frame is the time frame of Christ’s return.  It is sudden; in the twinkling of an eye.

Let the reader of Jesus’ warnings beware; “Now is the day of salvation” we read in Hebrews. And it means that you need to begin in this moment, if you have not done so yet, to utilize the talents He has given you (see the parable of the talents in Matthew 25). They must be put to work, not hidden, or “saved.” My stroke came without any prior or immediate warning.  The “halt” that Jesus’ coming brings to our moving world will come suddenly without any immediate warning. Use what little time is left to be about the work your Master has given you, so that He finds you doing it when he says, “Halt!” to the world, and there really is no more time!

Job’s revelation about God above came after all was said and done concerning the trial that shook his life to the core. It speaks volumes, unfortunately, in describing the story of many a common Advent season; Christmas holidays following one year upon another. In this season we HEAR much about God, and His Son, from carols playing everywhere to the retelling of the familiar nativity story; singing Silent Night by candlelight in many a Christmas service; and going through all the traditional motions of “celebrating” the most important birth in human history. Yet our eye too frequently doesn’t SEE Him as Job came to see Him following his intense wrestling with God in his deep “valley of the shadow of death.” The atmosphere, the schedule, the “rush” distracts our attention from the all-important truths of Advent, and hence from seeing Him as He wants us to see Him. Yes, we do hear about Him with our ears, but our eyes do not pierce the clutter to see Him to the end that our joy holds true, and will not fade when the “rush” recedes and January comes.

It is not that we should give it all up, escape town, and ignore our Christmas/Advent family traditions. There is much that is good in what we do here with good intentions. The failure is that we do not carve out personal time and protect it to sharpen our Advent sight; eyes that look back with eager searching to the nativity, the cross, and the resurrection and forward to the “blessed hope” of the Second Advent. This is the message with which Paul exhorted Titus (2:11-14): “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting (that is, looking with Advent eyes) for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” While Jesus’ faithful disciples saw magnificent things done and spoken by Him while He was with them, He told them they would see greater things than even these. (John 1:50) But eyes with an ever sharpening vision is not a given for believers simply because they are believers. Job was a believer in Job 1, indeed a very disciplined and devout believer, yet it wasn’t until the last chapter of his book that his spiritual vision is awakened, giving him a perspective on an all new level. Such “seeing” only arises out of time alone with God, in His Word, in prayer, and in soul-ful meditation. If you do this you will follow a pattern Jesus set in the midst of an all-consuming public ministry schedule.

Perhaps there is no more demanding time of the year for you to forcefully (what it requires!) carve out time alone with God to focus on the meaning of the Advent (1st and 2nd) in your life that you might gain and nurture an ever more intimate, personal life with your great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. A test such as this reaps rewards not only for a meaningful Advent now, but as a pattern for the whole year ahead! In doing this all else will be enriched in your Advent season; and there is good promise that what you bring from your Advent eyes to those around you will penetrate their perspective as well. Advent 2011 is here. Don’t just HEAR about God and His Son this year; SEE Him!

You may not agree with their determination of faith in the face of so little fruit, but an obvious question comes to mind: Is one worth it all? You could ask the same question at this milestone in the ministry of the Paul Anderson Youth Home, reaching its 50th anniversary in two days. If we had seen the transformation of only one boy over all those years would the half-century of blood, sweat and tears been worth the effort. As I asked myself that question, one boy after another came to mind; boys, young men, some now old, some recent graduates, whom God brought here that they might be made new by the Savior; any one by himself would have been worth the effort of all fifty years! I am convinced Glenda would agree. When you think of one boy at a time over the years, if he were the only one who “made it,” we could honestly say, “YES!” this makes it all worthwhile! The wonder is that there are so many of those ONEs who come to mind. And when you see them in such light, one individual at a time over fifty years whom God has transformed by His grace, you can hardly fathom the worthiness and the wonder of it all. We may tend to think of the hundreds of graduates, but it is the ONE who brings tears to your eyes and gratitude to your heart that God used the PAYH to reach this ONE.

There are lots of ONEs in Jesus’ ministry that you may remember: one woman at the well, one woman caught in the act of adultery, one good Samaritan, one healed leper among ten who returned to give thanks, one thief on the cross, and one you! Taken by themselves, each is worth the great cost of salvation.

On Saturday it will not be the memory of hundreds over five decades, it will be the memory of ONE. . . . . . . and then another ONE. . . . . . .and another; each worthy of the cost of the years of labor and years of keeping on when all seemed for naught. And if it is God’s will, there will be ONE more in the future, if God keeps the vision and work of the PAYH alive.

In your own life and ministry to others, is there ONE who has made all your efforts, all your work, all your prayers, worth it all? Don’t think of the many, if many there are; think of the ONE, and only then of the many, ONE at a time. Is that ONE worthy of the cost?

This past week I spoke at the funeral of a dear woman who had known me from the time I was 4 years of age. She and her husband were able and encouraging supporters of my pastoral ministry in the Pacific Northwest in the 70s and 80s. My sister married their son. Betty died at the age of 92 in a car accident. She was vigorous in mind and body though in her ninth decade of life. I asked at the funeral what the audience of friends and family would have considered the prime of her life to be: As a school girl in Korea where her parents were missionaries? At the age of the young picture on her memorial service program? When she married her dear husband with whom she lived 68 years? When she became a mother, or grandmother? Or so many other times in a life well lived in the faith? I told them that last Tuesday, the day the Lord took Betty home, was the prime of her life. And I told the audience TODAY is the prime of your life!

I said this because the Bible presents a gospel which is a TODAY gospel. Take the time to peruse a complete concordance and the Scripture references under the word TODAY and you will see what I am talking about. The gospel is a message for today, whenever today occurs in your life, whether this day or your today a week or a year from now, if indeed you still breathe. Every day you wake you awaken to a day which is the prime of your life, even if you are 92 and no longer 25 or 37 or 42. This is true because the Gospel message makes demands on you every today of your life. Whether or not we listen to the Lord’s voice that day, or if we harden our heart to his voice, it is the prime of your life; and it is another day of either the fleshing out of your salvation, or another day when the opportunity and the call was there but you hardened your heart to it. The Bible teaches that all your TODAYS are the day of salvation.  And every today you either reaffirm your salvation in your response, OR your answer by word, thought, or deed is a hardening of heart to His voice.

The caveat especially for you Bereans, who search the Scriptures to see whether what I am saying is true, is the condition in some lives of dementia, Alzheimers, or diminished conscious capacity for one reason or another. Frankly, I do not completely understand this occurrence in the life of the saints. I understand the physical aging process, but not the spiritual aspect of it. One day we will see clearly God’s purpose here. But if this is not your condition, and you would not be reading this if it were, this caveat presents no means of escaping the truth of the claims and demands of the gospel upon you. The living Word of God still says to you, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart.”

Today, the prime of your life, what will your answer be? As Joshua of old challenges us, “Choose TODAY whom you will serve, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”

This is preeminent in Moses’ thinking when he devises and prays the prayer which is the 90th Psalm. Moses did not find his dwelling place, his identity, in the vagaries of a life stretched over 120 incredible years of everything imaginable. Who has seen a life like his? We read of an identity linked to being a prince of Egypt, a life miraculously preserved, plucked from the bulrushes; a fugitive and alien, a husband, father and shepherd in the deserts of Midian; a savior, leader, and prophet to a nation wandering 40 years in the wilderness of Sinai. Moses considers it all mere dust; a span of time saturated with trouble and sorrow; and, in the end, finished with a moan (read Psalm 90); all except for this unshakeable truth: God was, at every step, his touchstone to reality, purpose, and meaning. Apart from God it made no sense. Moses found in Him his path to finding satisfaction; He was the measuring stick and preserver of the value of his work; He was the light to see in the dark what it all meant. In God he found himself; he found his dwelling place.  This is the underlying hunger in us all, whether we acknowledge it or not.

How do you feed such hunger? Where will you find Him in your life? The promise of God in James is simply this: “Come near to God and He will come near to you.” He will not be your touchstone to reality when kept at a distance.  God reveals Himself in the personal closeness you choose to build with Him. “Abide in me,” is the way Jesus said it in John 15. Abiding is not happenstance, here and there, it is a continual pursuit of the God who is there, and is not silent, as Francis Schaeffer entitled his book. It is one thing to talk about it, to say I “know” it, and quite another to pursue it with all that is in you, as you pursue the physical necessities of life.  One doesn’t replace the other in this life, but if you do not feed the spiritual, the physical pursuit of food, water, air, and whatever else you consider a “necessity” of life, will result in mere dust, trouble and sorrow, and a finish with a moan; not a shout of victory.

When I consider the fleetingness of my life, the people who have come into it and gone, the desire to measure its worth, there is only one Touchstone that has been there at every turn, one Guide who has placed me in humanly inexplicable paths with blessing, only One who knows who I truly am, and in whom I find my identity: the Living God, who calls me by name. So we say with Moses and James, “Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. . . .I will come near to you so that you will come near to me!”

Of the disciples who survived, none betrayed the Lord worse than Peter. And he knew it. At the moment of Peter’s third denial, Jesus looked at him, their eyes met, and the cock crowed. He who had vehemently protested the Lord’s prediction that he of all people would deny Him not once, but three times before that tell-tale sign announcing the dawn, was pierced to the heart of his soul, and went out into a sudden, dark loneliness to weep bitterly.

All the disciples were living in fear, confusion, apprehension, and were like sheep without a shepherd ever since the crucifixion. Twice the risen Lord suddenly appeared to them as they hid behind locked doors in Jerusalem. But in this text of John 21 they had left Jerusalem, probably surreptitiously, for Galilee where Jesus had already told the women the disciples would see him. The setting could not be more vastly different than the city of “peace,” Jerusalem, which had become for them the very opposite in the space of a few horrendous days.

Here the peace and tranquility beside the Sea of Galilee, with the water as smooth as glass as it often will be at the breaking of dawn and the Galilean hills as a backdrop to the beauty, could not be more of a contrast to the turmoil these seven disciples were feeling inside. And add to that the irritation of catching nothing in a whole night of fishing, though fishing was but an abstraction for them then as they dealt with all the unknowns of the previous days. Perhaps it was the aroma of fish cooking on a charcoal fire that first got their attention. In any case they saw a figure on the beach by the fire, who in the early light of dawn called out to them to put down their nets on the other side of the boat. Doing so they immediately pulled in a huge catch of fish; so large, they counted each one to see just how large a catch it really was: 153 John purposefully and precisely tells us.

As they share breakfast with Jesus around a fire on the beach, the same type of charcoal fire with which Peter warmed himself at the time of his last two denials, Jesus asks Peter three times a similar question, “Peter, do you love me more than these.” In Luke Jesus had once taught, “the one who is forgiven little, loves little.” Here, he is telling Peter a corollary to this truth, “the one who is forgiven much, loves much!” The depth of our affection for Christ is inseparably related to the depth of our understanding of that which we have been forgiven. Peter could not have missed the Savior’s point. Having transgressed so deeply with an understanding of his felt “bottomless pit,” he now experienced and understood the depth of grace that drew him out. It was far more than mere words that responded, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” There is no pit so deep that it warrants suicide, when there is a Savior capable of drawing us out, and placing our feet on solid ground. Christ in you is the hope of glory, not suicide, nor despair.

And no response or assurance of your forgiveness can be more richly healing and fulfilling going forward than the Lord’s spoken mission for every forgiven sinner: “Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.” Every once miserable soul, forgiven and covered with the blood of Christ, has lambs and sheep to feed; at home, at work, by the way, over the back fence, wherever you live, work and converse. Get your mind off yourself and your own ills. Get your mind and heart on Christ, and begin feeding His lambs and His sheep.   The antidote to suicide can only be one thing, one person…Jesus.

Every day of our lives tragic deaths take place around the world. Heinous injustices are perpetrated by others upon men, women, and children. Truth is dishonored. Values are scorned. Human beings are ravaged and their blood and dignity are trampled in the streets. And in most instances we do not weep. We only are aware of a miniscule amount of personal suffering in the world. The pain of loved ones and friends and acquaintances often move us to tears, but even then, not always. We are removed from personal pain and sorrow by lack of knowledge, distant impersonal connection, and callused emotions that have seen and experienced too much for every occasion of grief to bring tears. When personal grief does assail us closer to home and the subsequent tears seem unending, time eventually salves the wound while increasing the distance between the moments of memory and the consequent sobbing. Life moves on, even though something is missing, and is not yet restored.

As finite human beings we are incapable of bearing the world’s pain and sorrow. We can hardly take care of our own. The cruel severity of the world must impact any sensitive soul when considering that many suffer completely alone with no one to hear or share their tears or hear their cry for justice. And if there really was no one infinitely capable of this, someone with whom we could relate and know personally, life must seem not worth living, and we truly would be wretched, poor, miserable creatures without hope in life or in death.

But this is why Good Friday is Good! There is One who has borne our sorrows and carried our grief when no one else could. Not only are our personal iniquities laid on His back, but He bears the sins of the world on the cross; the people places neither we nor others could reach, or “fix” ourselves. The lonely cry in the darkness does not go unheard. The call for justice does not fall on deaf ears. We cannot know, we will not know, until we reach the other shore, what transpires between the lonely soul and the heart of the God-man, Jesus, who died in our place; in the critical moment we do not see, yet He sees. The powerless victim will be avenged. Like the thief on the cross who never had another opportunity to ask forgiveness of those he abused, robbed or killed, yet saw his hardened heart suddenly become tender in the brief moments before dying within feet of his Redeemer. The other faced his Maker with a scorn he carried to his last breath. But He tells us about both that we might come to Good Friday with a heart like one and not the other; that of the thief who entered Paradise with Him from the cross; humble, broken, repentant, thankful, and hopeful of his future even in the midst of his dire situation.

Tomorrow is Good Friday. Not just a common-religious-holiday-name, that lights no “spark” in your soul, because you’ve “been there, done that.” Real faith is not like that. It works Good in you as you prayerfully contemplate what a dying Savior gives to your life, and all that a dying Savior gives to the world. Jesus died! It is a Good thing. He lives, and so shall we.

Immediately prior to this large contingent of a detachment of Roman soldiers and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees arriving in the Garden with the mission of arresting Jesus, Peter was one of three disciples especially singled out by the Lord to participate in a critical moment in history. Matthew records that after Jesus asked His disciples excepting the three to wait for Him while He went further on to pray, He asked Peter, James and John to come with Him and to “Stay here and watch with Me.” (Matthew 26:36f) Within a short time Jesus found the exhausted three sleeping, but it is Peter (Matthew records) whom He chooses to address; “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” This happens two more times! When Jesus awakens them the third time, the crowd sent to arrest Him led by Judas enters the Garden. Peter, now very much “alert”, or so it seems, as they lay hands on Jesus to bind Him, impetuously draws his sword and with a swing to the head of the nearest man obviously intends a lethal blow. Fortunately, only the ear is nearly severed, and Jesus restores peace with the healing touch of His hand.

Within hours, the sleeping Peter, and the impetuous defender, is denying His Lord as he stands “alone” among hostile and indifferent bystanders and observers. Note the “roller-coaster” of temperament and emotions. Peter was, within the space of a brief time, too dull to recognize the spiritual import of the moment, next too impetuous in his defense to think and act Christianly, and finally, removed from the strengthening company of the disciples and Jesus, he is too fearful of what others might think to identify with his Lord. I think Peter exemplifies a malady which infects us all. At times we are too dull spiritually to recognize what Jesus is doing in our midst. At other times we are too impetuous and overbearing in “defending” the Lord and the Gospel that we forget to think and act as Christ would (or are even cognizant of His revealed character and behavior), and, finally, when we are “standing alone” in the world we become too weak and fearful to identify with Christ and His Word, that those among whom we move, work, and live always know who we truly are in Christ. 

This is definitely a malady that needs healing. Peter overcame it, coming out of his crucible refined for leadership in the early church. I do not know what happened to Malchus, but I know what happened to Peter! As you approach Holy Week, in public worship, in private meditation, confession, and prayer, and in rubbing shoulders with the world, give some thought to the Malchus’ Ear Malady in you. There is healing in the cross for all our ills. Direct the eyes of your broken heart there, and never stray far from the cross in any aspect of your life as you “fight the good fight” and “lay hold of eternal life.”

Solving mysteries demands a detective-like curiosity. That is why so many people love mystery novels. But by the last page they “know who dun it.” The once mystery is mystery no longer. I think this is the same way in which many consciously or unconsciously interpret the “mystery” of the gospel. Once you have heard the gospel preached, and you are acquainted, or so you think, with what the Bible says of the gospel and of God, the mystery is gone. You get it! It becomes “old hat.” The “mystery” is mystery no longer. In YOUR mind it is solved.

Well, this is NOT the meaning of “mystery” as in the “mystery of God” or the “mystery of the gospel!” It is not even the meaning of “mystery” in the mystery of husband and wife oneness. That is a lifetime study if there ever was one. We might see more clearly the mystery of being “ONE” in marriage and the male and female psyche and God’s creative rationale for making man male and female as He did, once we get to heaven, but anyone who says he or she gets it now? You can be sure they are blowing smoke! On the other hand, the mystery of God can never be fully comprehended by us in all its manifold depths even in heaven, when we see not dimly, but face to face.” Still every unfolding of the mystery in our mind and experience is a delight that can be matched nowhere else. It is the gift that never stops giving.  Augustine rightly said centuries ago, “If you can comprehend it, it’s not God.” We are finite creatures, and though we will live forever, we will never become God, nor plumb the depths of His immensity. But when you develop a mindset that you know everything there is to know, or as much as you think it is essential for you to know, curiosity to know Him dies, and so do you.  

Passionate curiosity to know God is your lifeline to all that lies in your future; it is your purpose for being. As the Westminster Catechism begins, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever;” this is exactly what you are doing when you exercise an indefatigable curiosity to never cease exploring the frontier of the wonder and glory of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; to know Him, and yet never come to the end of Him. Curiosity propels us to relentlessly pursue finding out many things in life, some of which we are better off not knowing; the sense in which “curiosity killed the cat” is prophetically true for us. Our curiosity pursues such trivial things of this world, in light of eternity; like what did Charlie Sheen say or do this week. Or what is the latest gossip? Or how many hours can I spend on Facebook? Unlike such time consuming trivia that leads eventually to deep regrets about time ill-spent, curiosity about the mystery of God, compelling your heart and mind to search out every facet of His being, leads to one enjoyment after another with no end and no regret.

My wife and I once drove along the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Every numerous curve of this literal ribbon of highway clinging to the side of the cliff above the spectacular blue Mediterranean opened another vista which we repeatedly thought could not be surpassed; and yet it was, at the very next curve. As you purposefully stir and engage the curiosity of your heart and mind in pursuit of the mystery of God, it will reward you with one discovery after another, delving into the depths of who He is. In that unfolding process you will also discover yourself, a glorious being upon whom He has chosen to bestow glory. And, you will then realize you have finally come home!

“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.” 
Deuteronomy 7:9

Application:

Today, January 6th, is the traditional date of Epiphany which has been celebrated in the church since the Third Century. Its theme has primarily been the visit of the first Gentiles to Jesus, the Magi from the East, who were led by the Sovereign God and a mysterious star to come and worship him. The word Epiphany means to show, reveal, appear; that is, the revelation of God in the flesh, of Jesus, to the world. For the believing church, Epiphany is a reminder of her responsibility to declare who Jesus is to the whole world. Not unlike other people in the Bible who are historically recorded as having seen the Savior and whose lives were eternally transformed by Him, these Magi are never mentioned again in the Bible. Where did they come from; why were they looking for His sign in the night skies; what did they do when they returned to their homes? Likewise, we do not know what happened to the shepherds who witnessed the glorious display in the skies over their fields near Bethlehem, and came to worship the baby Jesus in the stable and believed all they saw and heard. There is so much we do not know, even today in a world of modern technology and worldwide communication. We really do not know what God is doing in many corners of our world. We do not know the number or the names of those serving and worshipping Him and His Son in every nation. We too often forget the “Elijah principle.” Elijah at one time believed that he was the only one in his country who worshipped and served the One true God. The Lord educated his ignorance, revealing to Elijah that there were actually over 7,000 followers of God in his little country whom he did not know existed.

None of us know for sure where the Magi (wise men, scholars, astronomers, counselors to kings) came from. But an educated guess that carries the most significant weight is that they were descended from the Magi, of whom Daniel was chief in Babylon and its empire which at various times was the empire of the ancient Babylonians, Medes and Persians. The godly Daniel, appointed Chief of the Magi (Daniel 4:9), became the 2^nd in charge of Babylon after the King (Daniel 2:48-49). Daniel served in this capacity for a succession of at least four Kings, and because of his godly example and witness must have led many fellow Magi and other citizens to worship the true God. The Scriptures tell us that God continues his covenant to children’s children and to a thousand generations of those who love Him and obey His commands. I believe the Magi who traveled far to bring gifts and to worship King Jesus, descended from godly wise men who served with Daniel. Not too many years ago I traveled in South India. The Province of Kerala is near the southern most point of the country. Today it is reportedly the most Christian province in all of pagan India. While on one of her beaches I was approached by an Indian man who was with the Gideons International who wanted to witness to me about the Lord Jesus. I did not expect that of all things in India where the West continues to send missionaries. Traditionally, it is believed that the Apostle Thomas was the first Christian missionary to India and that he planted churches in the area which is today the Province of Kerala. Who knows whether some of those believers living there today are descended over many centuries from Thomas’ converts?

Even now we do not know all that God is constantly about in His world. Most of it is simply never reported. The church is growing exponentially in China, Indonesia, the Southern Hemisphere, in places where it is persecuted and underground, but impossible to wipe out. “The blood of the martyrs is the seedbed of the church.”  We often believe from what we hear and see from the unbelieving and ignorant media that the church is dwindling, believers are a struggling few, and paganism is taking over everywhere. But I believe in the Principle of Elijah; that there are possibly 7,000 times more Christians than we know. God is prospering the remarkable growth of His church in a way that “flies under the world’s radar.” The covenant of God’s grace to successive generations of believers is not abrogated. May Epiphany remind you again of your responsibility to declare Jesus and the Good News to the world, beginning with your own children, your wider family, the community in which you live and work, and to the farthest corners of the world. Christian parent!. . . Leave an eternal legacy by discipling your own children into a committed relationship to Jesus Christ, that they might do the same with their children and grandchildren. Earnestly carry out your responsibility in seeing your own seed walk in Christ and in step with the Holy Spirit to a thousand generations! God calls you to it and backs it up with a promise. He is faithful. Will you be?  

Encouragement:

“Those who His gracious covenant keep The Lord will ever bless; Their children’s children shall rejoice to see His righteousness.”

(5^th verse of Psalm 103:13-18 from The Psalter, 1912)