It Wasn’t A Waste of Time After All!

How many times have you done something over and over again thinking, “I just did this same thing the other day.  Why is it like this again?”  Maybe you dusted your furniture and within a day it is completely dusty again.  Maybe you just finished mopping your floor and not 10 minutes later some dog or kid comes running through leaving tracks.  Maybe you finished that pile of paperwork that was on your desk at work and within a few days a whole new pile of paperwork to do is back on your desk.  It really makes you think, “Now wasn’t that a waste of time!”  Sometimes even when we are raising our children we teach them the same things over and over again.  “Don’t touch that hot stove!”  “Do your homework, so you will learn what you need to know to have a job when you grow up!”  “Clean your room!”  Especially as our kids become teenagers we really begin to wonder if they are even listening.  By the time they are ready to move out you wonder if it wasn’t all a big waste of time giving them instruction after instruction, piece of advice after piece of advice.  Even when the kids were at church they would sometimes seem to drift or not be listening to the Sunday School teacher or the Preacher.  At home you would read them the Bible Stories or teach them little moral lessons out of the Bible and yet they would still seem to test the waters or challenge what you believed. 

Thankfully, the majority of the time, when we raise our kids with good sound Biblical doctrine, Christian morals and Biblical concepts they will come back to the spiritual foundations we have laid.  Read Proverbs 22:6:

Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

We did what we were supposed to.  We made the efforts.  We taught the scriptures.  We took them to church.  We encouraged them in their faith.  However, as they turn in to adults we can control them.  We have to accept that they will make their own decisions.  It is an encouragement to know from this Bible verse that once we have done our part it won’t be a waste of time after all.  Most youth will return to what we have taught them.  We just need to pray and be patient.  We need to be there for them when they need some spiritual wisdom.  Never stop being their loving and supportive parent.

Desired More Than Gold

Gold fever struck in 1848 when James Marshall discovered gold in John Sutter’s saw mill in the south fork of the American River in Northern California.  Within four months of the discovery when word reached San Francisco 400 of the 600 men left town to seek the gold.  Shops closed, ships were abandoned and homes deserted according to the pbskids.org website.  The thought that free gold could be found just lying around places like California and Alaska made farmers and skilled craftsmen become miners overnight.  They worked hard for their living and dreamt of an easier life from all that free gold.  Unfortunately, it didn’t work out so well for most people.  It usually ended up being the ones who came in and open shops and saloons that ended up getting rich.  This story has played out over and over again throughout history.  Men and women seeking the good life.  Men and women never being content and wanting more.  Men and women dreaming of being rich and living the way they want to.  And just like in the miners case, it usually doesn’t work out that way.  However, there is one sure way to gain something far more valuable than gold in our lives.  Read Psalm 19: 8-10.

“8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.10 More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”         

The commandment of the Lord, Word of God, and the judgments of the Lord are where we find true riches.  They will make us rejoice, instead of being dragged down by what we don’t have.  We will find purity in life, instead of always seeing just evil.  We will be enlightened way beyond what any new age religion can do for us.  The fear of the Lord brings true cleanliness to our lives, that no amount of good work could ever bring.  The Lord’s judgments are the only way for us to obtain righteousness.  God expects us to desire His Word and His ways more than anything else in this world.  We should give up everything to obtain the Word of God in our lives, like the miners did seeking God.

This passage contains some of the most important instructions we could ever follow.  Are you desiring the Word of God as much as the people in the mid 1800’s are desiring to find that one great nugget of gold?  Take time to think about what you think about and desire the most in your life.