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.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

38. EPHESIANS 3:14-19 (The Fullness of God)

The old lady sat quietly with her eyes closed and deep in thought. She was genuinely disturbed by a remark made by one of the TV Evangelists that seems to suggest that God only favors the righteous and that the others may be left by the wayside on judgment day. This was definitely not her understanding and she wanted to be sure that her grand child, Ana, knew this.
Inviting Ana to sit next to her, she picked up her trusted Bible as she asked the child:
“Ana do you know what is meant by the term “The Fullness of God”?
Little Ana thought for a moment, and then responded negatively. The old lady was not really surprised at the response and opening her Bible she continued:
“let me read to you from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians, Chapter 3, Verses 14-19 in which St. Paul expressed his awe in receiving his salvation and the promise that all believers will share in the Fullness of God.”
Beginning with Verses 14 and 15, she reads:


For this reason I kneel before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven
and on earth derives its name.

"Paul begins his prayer by going down on his knees to express his awe and humility to God and to recognize him as Father of everybody in Heaven and on Earth. He does not make any distinction. We are all his children, Christians and Non-Christians alike.”
Continuing, she slowly and carefully reads Verse 16:


I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you
with power through his Spirit in your inner being.

“Paul continues by reminding us of the Richness of God’s Glory to which we are all entitled, and which is readily available to anyone of us, to strengthen us in every way. Unlike our worldly ability, these gifts are endless in scope and in duration and freely available to all. He went further to explain that we can inherit this power within our inner spirit by the presence of the Holy Spirit”.
The old lady paused briefly to allow Ana to absorb the message and if necessary to respond to any questions. She then continued to read Verses 17 and 18:


So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

“This is a powerful prayer. That as believers through our faith, strengthened by our beliefs and reinforced by our love of God the father, we pray that Christ will come into our hearts and take up permanent residence and control. In this way, together with all the believers, far and wide, we will get to know the enormous and endless capacity of Christ’s love for his children. To get to this state we must not only accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, but be willing to walk with him through faith. ”
The old lady raised her head and leaning back, looked to Ana who, by this time, appeared to be overwhelmed by the extent of God’s willingness to accommodate his family of believers. After a short time had elapsed, Ana sat up and addressed her grand mother:
“Gramma, does God really give us the knowledge to do all these things so that we may be acceptable to him?”
The old lady replied, with a smile of contentment at the child’s mature insight:
"Yes indeed my dear child, let me read the final Verse 19, you will then understand:"


And to know this love that surpasses knowledge
—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

“Paul is saying to us that our love in Christ completely surpasses all knowledge and understanding and by our love we are filled with a fullness that only God Almighty can give. It means that in this state you are completely able and capable to lead the life expected of a true believer."
Little Ana, jumped up and turning to her grand mother with joy in her face exclaimed:

“Gramma, thank God for you. For I know that you live with the Fullness of God, and with his help, you will show us all the way to get there.”
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