Thursday, August 11, 2016
One specific thing that worried Job was the spiritual wellbeing of his children. Whenever they would get together at some family celebration, Job would get up early and offer a burnt sacrifice to God just in case in their festivities they had sinned against Him the previous night. All godly parents share this same concern for their children. Even as you are reading today’s blog some of you may be worrying about your children or grandchildren’s relationship with Christ. We raise them as best we can in the knowledge and nurture of the Lord and then trust that when they are on their own they will continue in close fellowship with Him. Therefore, whenever we see indications that they are slipping or straying, we start to concentrate more on our prayers for them. Prayer will always help in that regard and, if nothing else, God’s blessing and protection will be upon them until they snap out of their lapse and get back on track.
I was thinking about that situation yesterday as I read this verse: “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” (Galatians 6:1 KJV) Many bible readers assume that the word “fault” in the verse simply implies sin. Actually the Greek word in the original manuscript is the word paraptoma which means: “a lapse or deviation from truth and uprightness.” Therefore, we can conclude that this will include our children, or any child of God, who is straying from Him or is going through a spiritual funk. Apart from praying for them, the verse advises us to be proactive and make an effort to “restore” them. The question is: “how do we do that?”
I don’t think there is any certain or prescribed way and I assume that the Lord wants us to pray and ask for direction or for an opening. We must remember, nevertheless, that if we don’t do it when the Lord opens the door for it, at the Spirit’s leading, if you will, we won’t have much success. Even so, if we really love our children, brethren, or friends that are having a spiritual relapse, we must do what we can to bring them back quickly to the Lord before they hurt themselves even more. Doing it God’s way, we will be doing more for them that we can possibly imagine and, as a result, we will be the recipients of…….
God’s promise for today: (Daniel 12:3) “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.”
