Don't Be an Otis May 9, 2019

The Philippian Jailer Converted

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, ²⁶ and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. ²⁷ When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”  Acts 16:25-28 ESV

I am not second guessing Paul or Silas when they stayed in their prison cell even when the "bonds were unfastened" and the cell doors were opened.  As a result of this act, the jailer and his family were saved and believed in God.  Acts 16:34  However, I wonder how many of us stay in an emotional, mental, or spiritual prison after God has unfastened our sin bonds and opened the door to freedom.
  
When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the stain of sin is washed away, our guilt removed, and our sin is covered by his blood.  Yet so many Christians still live life in a prison cell of self-recrimination and shame.  Yes, we have sinned.  Yes, we have hurt others.  And there may be things from our past that have to be dealt with in the present, but we are declared righteous and sanctified in the eyes of God when we call out to Him for salvation.

I am reminded of Otis from the Andy Griffith Show.  Periodically he would stagger into the police station, get the key off the hook, and let himself into one of  the two cells in the Mayberry jail.  I am so like Otis at times.  I will make a mistake or think back to past times and, like Otis, put myself back into a jail cell.  Only my cell is made up of self-loathing and shame.  

The problem with this is that I am no longer a prisoner of my past.  Past sins have been forgiven.  Transgressions from a decade ago or a minute ago are wiped away.  Through Christ's sacrifice on the cross and my acceptance of his Lordship, I am declared righteous in the eyes of God.

Let's not keep returning to the prison of self-doubt and guilt.  We have been set free.  Bonds unfastened.  Cell doors opened.  Walk out and don't return.  Don't be an Otis. 

Not Their God May 3, 2019

As I was preparing a small group lesson for Sunday, I came across four words buried in the middle of the 12th verse of the 2nd chapter of Judges.  "God of their Fathers"  Four words that have been immortalized in the hymn, "God of our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand".  There are many versions of this hymn on Youtube.  But when used in Judges 2:12, the phrase is more of a cautionary tale.

¹¹ And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. ¹² And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt.  Judges 3:11,12 ESV  

In Judges we see the people of Israel, God's chosen people, engaged in a destructive pattern of disobedience, oppression, crying out for deliverance, deliverance, peace, then disobedience, oppression, so on and so forth.  I wonder if much of the blame for this cycle lies at the feet of the older generations.  There were no Bibles, no scrolls, no church camps.  If children and adolescents did not learn about Jehovah from their parents and grandparents, they were out of luck.

Their parents had seen the mighty deliverance of God.  They were witness to fire from heaven, parting of rivers, miraculous victories on the battle field, but how vivid were their recounting of these events to their children?  How often did they observe genuine praise and fervent prayer from a parent, aunt or uncle?  Was Bible study done at the kitchen table or in a closed-door study before the rug rats were up? 

Was God just a "God of their fathers"?  Was it ever made real to the up and coming generation?  If Jehovah remained just a God of the old people, it is no wonder Generation I fell away.

As parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, it is a spiritual imperative we help our God become just as real in the lives of our young charges as it is in ours.  I think this graphic points to the urgency of this mission.

Let's make sure the God of our fathers, becomes the God of our children.