If I had it to do all over again there are many things I would have done differently in life, lots of failures I could have tried to avoid and many mistakes I would correct. But there is one thing I would do again, something I don’t regret. In fact, it’s one of the best things I did in life. It’s the fact that we made Jesus a central part of our lives as well as our children’s lives. In our family, our home school and our church involvement, we always tried to keep Jesus lifted up as the One to follow.
Now when we visit our children (all grown, 4 married, 2 soon to be married ) and see them passing on the faith to their children (17 grandchildren so far) as we passed it on to them, I am very pleased. Every single one is faithfully living for Jesus and putting Him first in their lives. I can’t imagine how different our lives, and those of our children, would have been had we not tried to make Jesus the center of everything. Listening to my grandchildren pray and talk about Bible stories is extremely heart-warming. Words cannot describe how much joy it brings to us. Its humbling and gratifying to know God used us to start this in our family! There is nothing better we could have done for our children, no greater gift we could have given them. We knew it was crucial, yet only now do we realize the life-changing importance of it! It won’t stop with our grandchildren but will be passed to their children and theirs as well. To think we had something to do with that is truly amazing. Clearly, it is by far one of the best things we have ever done!
3 John 4 I have no greater joy than to know that my children are walking in the truth.
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
2 Timothy 3:14-15 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
If you have young children or grandchildren: are you doing all you can, by word, action and prayer, to make Jesus foremost in your live and theirs?
If you don’t have young children or grandchildren: are a good influence for Jesus on the children you come in contact with? Do you help, encourage and pray for the families you know?
INDIA UPDATE: Here is a recent update from Pastor Moses: “We had a nice worship on Sunday in the morning and in the evening, we had a group of non-Christian women, and Catholic women coming for worship, sharing the gospel to them, and slowly they are planning to come again and again. One of the lady’s small daughter about 7 months got healed from fever, after the prayers. She did not take any milk from her mother for several hours on Sunday. They asked one of our elder to pray for the baby, so he went and Prayed for her, so the baby was healed, and they did not take her to the hospital and brought her to the Church, which was good.”
PRAY FOR The ministry of the pastors in India. Pray God provides opportunities for them to share the good news of Jesus, that He gives boldness and wisdom to the pastors as they speak, and that He opens the hearts of those listening. Pray that those who come to Him would remain strong in their faith and grow spiritually. Being a young Christian in a Hindu family in India is not easy!