The Hope of Children

From yesterday's email to my growing group of beautiful, maturing, vibrant young women . . .

Hello, girls! Today I read from Psalm 78, 79, and 80.

"Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
    incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
² I will open my mouth in a parable;
    I will utter dark sayings from of old,
³ things that we have heard and known,
    that our fathers have told us.
⁴ We will not hide them from their children,
    but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
    and the wonders that he has done.
⁵ He established a testimony in Jacob
    and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
    to teach to their children,
⁶ that the next generation might know them,
    the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
⁷     so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
    but keep his commandments . . ."

I have a special place in my heart for the Scriptures that speak of young children, infants, and generations "yet to be born." (Perhaps because I hope to be midwife someday). I love these passages because I am reminded that even though the world wanes darker and darker with each passing year (and I read some pretty depressing/chilling news articles today), God still places emphasis on the hope springing up in a new generation of children. An older adult told me recently, "I'm sorry that this is the world you have to inherit. It wasn't this bad when I was starting out."


But I realized that just as I am now full of energy to take on the challenges of living a godly life and creating a realm of beauty and holiness on a cursed planet, so will the children of each era be given the vision and the fortitude to overcome the evils of their day. We (the Church) won't simply wither up and wilt away to nothingness--and then Jesus returns to claim a nonexistent Bride; no, there will always be a steady pulsating heartbeat of true believers waiting for their Bridegroom to come. So cherish the little ones in your lives--they are your beacon of hope for days yet to come. Invest in them. They are probably your siblings; they might be nieces and nephews, little kids at church, and very soon they will be your own children. They are infinitely precious and valuable to God, and even though our culture hates them and destroys them and ignores them and poorly raises the few it does have, you are not of this world, but of another world, and you love what God loves and hates what he hates. He loves and delights in children, and the promise he brings to the earth through them, and so ought we.

Good night, dear ones!

Saved So Young

Hello, dear girls! [This is Day #150 of emailing daily, by the way!]

Tonight I'm reading from Psalm 69-71.

"O God, from my youth you have taught me,
    and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
¹⁸ So even to old age and gray hairs,
    O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
    your power to all those to come."

You and I have the immense privilege of being raised in Christian homes and having been saved early in life. If only we fully understood and appreciated the years of grief we've been spared by having such a wonderful start! It is, of course, not a default that we can just "coast along" through life on our parents' coattails of faith; no, we have to sweat and bleed and work and feel the pain of claiming the cross of Christ as our own. At the end of the day, it is each of us, alone, in the Colosseum, dared to deny our Lord. No wimpy church-camp religion here, girls. But at the same time, we have been given the gift of a Lamp to our paths so early in the journey, the right Word of truth to guide us from all lies--think of all those people out stumbling in the world, unable to discern truth from error, unsure of which way is right, weak and unfit for any battle! What a long road they have. And those who are saved later in life, after sowing seeds of sin in their earlier years, they reap the grievous harvest not only in this life, but the next: think of the spouses or children who will not be among the redeemed. Entire families who turn against the one believer and persecute their own kin with a vengeance (think of the Christians who come to the truth amidst a system like Islam!). Their lives are hard.

Be grateful for what you have been given--a faith that claimed you while you were so young, and a life that stretches out before you, even into your silver-haired years, a life of joyful submission, service, freedom, comfort and assurance beneath the banner of the salvation of God through Jesus Christ. Use this gift wisely, and do not waste your young years in comfort and indifference. Spend them stocking up on spiritual wisdom and knowledge, cultivating the fruits of the Spirit, and learning more and more about the character of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. Then go out into the fields, which are white for harvest. Be strong. Strengthen yourselves, not bodily, for the body is wasting away and growing older only to die and decay, but rather strengthen yourselves spiritually--for your soul shall not die, but live eternally in the presence of the great and wondrous King! Gloria!