PREAMBLE

PREAMBLE

“Teach a child in the way he should go;

And when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

These words taken from Proverb 22:6 speak loudly of the responsibility of parents and caregivers to the children entrusted to them. In these modern days with the advent of such a large and diverse selection of electronic gadgets, our children are bombarded with so many distractions from every direction that it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with their spiritual development.

We as adults, often overwhelmed by the demands for survival, are guilty of neglecting our responsibilities of ensuring our children’s growth. We are losing sight of the fact that at this stage children are at their most receptive phase for absorbing information and unless we make an effort to help them, they are likely to acquire wrong information from other sources.

I believe no one is better equipped or better placed to do the job than the parent or the caregiver. By making use of every opportunity to teach the words of Jesus Christ, to read the Holy Bible as well as by setting personal examples we can build our children’s faith and offer them alternative examples to live by. In this way we can prepare them to deal with the many and varied temptations they will face in life as they go forward.

These stories under the banner “The Old Lady and Ana” grew out of a discussion I had with my cousin Starr Sabga during which we lamented that our children are not being exposed to reading and discussing the bible as we were. We both felt that as a result of this we are missing a very important opportunity to expose them to God’s words and running the risk of losing them.

The stories are strictly my interpretation of selected passages from the Bible based on my Christian education and on my own life experience. They are meant for the younger child, as examples of how we may use day to day experiences to learn about God’s word. They are by no means exhaustive but I trust they may serve to get other parents and caregivers to do the same.

If this happens, then I would consider myself fully rewarded.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

27. THE OLD LADY AND ANA-PSALM 91.1-8 (God is my Protector)

The Sunday morning was bright and beautiful as Ana sat next to her grandmother in the backseat of her father’s car as they drove home from attending church services. After a short while Ana turned to her grand mother and asked her to explain what the preacher meant by his statement that he was afraid of no one because he lives in God’s house.
The old lady, expecting such a question and recognizing that everyone in the vehicle would be interested in her answer, opened her bible to one of her favorite passages and replied:
“My dear child, this is an answer that every one of us should be able to confidently give, if we are true Christians and followers of Jesus Christ. Let me read from Psalm 91, Verses 1-8 which clearly spells it out in great detail:”

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD:

“He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

“This is a direct expression of confidence that whoever chooses to seek shelter and protection of the Almighty and remains in communion and service will find himself in a state of divine deliverance and security. But to achieve this we must declare our intention and belief, that we are choosing God as our refuge and confirm our commitment as children of faith. This after all is the fundamental tenet of Christianity!”

Ana, by now listening intently to every word her grand mother has spoken and wanting to know more about what we may expect, then asked:
“Gramma, does God really protect us from every bad thing and all the bad people?”
The old lady nodded her head affirmatively and continued reading verses 3 and 4:

Surely he will save you

from the fowler’s snare

and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

“Here the Psalmist is promising us that God will rescue us from all the hidden traps laid by our enemies and will protect us from all the deadly calamities that may befall us. Further, he will gather us and protect us under his own wings, so that we are assured of refuge, support and protection. In effect he will provide us with all that is necessary to make us safe and secure.”

The old lady paused briefly to allow her words to be assimilated and then continued:
“God promises even more to all believers, let me read the rest of the reading contained in verses 5-8:"

You will not fear the terror of night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes

and see the punishment of the wicked.

“God’s protection is complete. You do not need to fear anything, whether it be the terror of the unknown, or the arrows from your enemies or the disease that destroys lives, he promises that we will be safe while thousands will fall around us. Even more than this, he promises that while all this is happening, we will witness with our own eyes the real punishment that will befall the wicked and non-believer.”

The old lady closed her eyes as she closed her bible, and after a short while, she opened them and addressed all the occupants of the car in a strong and confident manner:

“I hope and pray that every one in this family is able to declare, like Reverend Smith, that we too, are not afraid, for we all dwell in the shelter of the Most High.”

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