Paul preached
the message in this scripture passage to a group of Greek men in charge of religious
and educational matters in Athens at the Areopagus. They had an altar to an “Unknown
God” and he was telling them that God they worshipped in ignorance—just casually
to appease all gods—was the true God. This God has set everything in motion and
determined the way things should be—and He is not far from us. He is a very determined.
He didn’t just create mankind and walk away. He is active in our lives and
loves each of us. Paul goes on to tell them that they should repent because God
will judge all people one day for their righteousness through a Man that He
raised from the dead. We know that Paul was talking about Jesus. Some people
sneered at Paul, and others followed him and became believers in Jesus.
So where do
you stand? God was not far from those people in Athens, and He is close to us,
too. We just have to choose how close we want to be to Him. When you are close
to someone, there is a relationship. That is what knowing God is all about—relationship.
Trusting Him to be an active part of your life and being obedient to His word
and His will.
Training Tip – Obedience is the key in character development. It
needs to be taught to a child by the age of three—or it gets more difficult. If
parents make their requests to toddlers reasonable, then it will be easy for
the child to obey. As this is repeated the habit of obedience will be established
in their character. Ways
to encourage obedience, summarized here from How To Mold Character From The
Inside Out by Dr. Kay Kuzma:
·
Tell the
child “NO” and repeat it strongly when he touches something he shouldn’t. Remove
the child if the object cannot be removed. It is necessary to set limits.
·
Give child
opportunities for a praise reward—as in response to “hand me the ball,” or “come
to me” by smiling and saying thank you. The child will bask in your approval.
·
Obedience
lessons should not involve emotions or body functions, such as stop crying or
urinating, or go to sleep. Requests can involve things like “shut the door” or “take
off your shoes” that you can enforce by taking the child by the hand and
showing them what to do and by saying “I told you to shut the door and I meant
it.”
·
Make sure
your child has your attention and hears you when you give a command for them to
obey.
·
Make your
request positive. The child may not hear the “Don’t…” and will do what you said—even
if it is to hit someone.
·
Have only a
few rules, but be consistent. Here are three basic ones.
o You may not hurt yourself.
o You may not hurt others.
o You may not hurt things.
·
Discipline
objectionable traits like whining.
·
Teach your
children about Jesus by using object lessons—from nature—and in songs. Use church
songs and literature at home during the week. You may want to train your child for
quiet time by having daily “church time” at home where Mom listens to Christian
radio program or music while the children play quietly with “church” toys or
books. You want your child or children to love to go to God’s house, not to
fear or resent it.
Lord God, we acknowledge that You are the one true
God and we worship You. Help us to teach our children and grandchildren to be
obedient to Your word and to the way that You would have us live to honor You.
Thank You Veterans
for taking care of our country--to keep this the land of the free and the home of the brave.
All
scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise
noted.
© 2013 by Mickey
M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
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