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.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

35. THE OLD LADY AND ANA-ROMANS 3:21-28 (Forgiveness through Faith)

Little Ana approached her grandmother after dinner was completed, with a question that clearly has been bothering her for some time.
“Gramma this book I am reading says that the real difference between believers and non-believers is that God always forgives us for anything we do or whatever wrong we commit, so long as we genuinely believe in him. Is that really true?”

The old lady, somewhat uncertain about the implications of the question, paused for a while and then beckoning her grandchild to sit next to her, replied:
“My dear child the statement is not correct. God never gave permission for anyone of us, believers or non-believers to do wrong, nor did he promise to forgive us for anything we do. What I think the writer meant is that God grants us forgiveness for our sins because of the price paid on our behalf by his only son, Jesus Christ. This is explained by St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans, Chapter 3, Verses 21-28. Let me read Verses 21 and 22 to you:


Now, the way to receive God’s approval has been made plain
in a way other than Moses’ Teachings.
Moses’ Teachings and the Prophets tell us this.
Everyone who believes has God’s approval,
through faith in Jesus Christ.
There is no difference between people.
“You see Ana, God makes it clear that the only way to receive God’s approval is through our faith in Jesus Christ. Every one of us, whoever we are, is entitled to receive God’s grace. There is no difference, no distinction, no discrimination among people in our standing before God. What is important is that we believe in God and have faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior.”
The old lady looked at Ana expectantly and then nodded her head as she continued to read Verses 23 and 24:


Because all people have sinned,
they have fallen short of God’s glory.
They receive God’s approval freely
by an act of his kindness
through the price Christ Jesus paid
to set us free from sin.

“Not one of us stands before God without sin. Without exception, we are all guilty by our own commissions and as such we deserve the wrath of the Almighty, for we have fallen short of his expectation. But by God’s good graces we are forgiven and receive his blessings. We are not entitled, nor do we earn this kindness. It is God’s gift to us freely given, by the blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Little Ana sat up and turning to her grand mother, somewhat perplexed, she asked:
“But gramma, does that mean that anyone of us can just go ahead and sin and God will forgive us?”
The old lady shook her head from side to side indicating disagreement and said:
“Indeed not my dear child. This certainly does not absolve us from living a good Christian life and following the teachings of Jesus Christ. What it implies is that through the sacrifices of
Jesus Christ we are granted forgiveness by the Almighty. Let me read Verses 25 and 26:


God showed that Christ is the throne of mercy
where God’s approval is given through
faith in Christ’s blood. In his patience
God waited to deal with sins committed in the past.
He waited so that he could display
his approval at the present time.
This shows that he is a God of justice,
a God who approves of people who believe in Jesus.


“St. Paul clearly shows that God’s grace is available only through faith in Christ to all who believe. We do not deserve, nor can we ever earn this grace, but it is through God’s amazing goodness that forgiveness is granted.”
The old lady paused briefly, and then continued to read Verses 27 and 28:


So, do we have anything to brag about?
Bragging has been eliminated.
On what basis was it eliminated?
Is it on the basis of our own efforts?
No, indeed! Rather, it is eliminated on the basis of faith.
We conclude that a person has God’s approval
because of faith, not because of his own efforts.


“These verses are very important for those of us who have a tendency to brag about God’s goodness. We must never forget that we are all sinners and deserve to be punished for out transgressions. The fact that God in his kindness, chooses to grant us forgiveness and acceptance is not by any effort by us but rather on the basis of the price paid by Christ, our Savior.”
Ana, by now overwhelmed by the extent of God’s kindness and goodness, slowly got up and hugged her grandmother as she whispered:




“Thank you gramma, for showing me that my God is the greatest, kindest and all-forgiving God.”

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