Look what I found!

In the basement of our house, when I was a kid, was a big wooden box my dad had made where the toy’s that were once my brother and my favorites were stored.  Every once and awhile, bored with more recent acquisitions, we would dig through the box and unearth artifacts of past military campaigns, construction projects and other past events.  It was almost like getting new ones, but even better because they had memories attached to them.  In fact, if you haven’t gone through the box or boxes where your old toys are stored, you should try it.  It’s a lot of fun.

King Josiah, as you recall, got rid of all the statues of the false gods (idols) that had made their way into his kingdom during the reign of his father and grandfather.  Also, he resolved to restore and repair the temple of the one true God of Israel.  It was in bad shape and would require the help of all sorts of construction workers and their tools.  Now keep in mind, this occurred many, many years ago and there were no bulldozers or power equipment, only hand tools like shovels, hammers and chisels.  But before any work could begin the temple needed a good cleaning.  Over the years the temple had become more like your basement or garage, a place where stuff you don’t use anymore or seldom use is stored and often forgotten, until you need it again.

One day while cleaning out the junk that had been stored inside the temple, one of the workers discovered something very exciting indeed.  They had no idea how long their discovery had been lost, but I’m sure it was dusty, dirty and looked nothing like it used to.  It could have easily been thrown away with the rest of the trash, but God had something else in mind.  After they examined it carefully they discovered that what they had found was a book, but not any book, but the most important book of all!  Now keep in mind that books back then didn’t look like books today, they looked more like a roll of paper towels and instead of turning pages, you unrolled them.  They were called a scroll.  Now what they had discovered was the Book of Moses, the book that contained part of what we call the bible. Today there are millions of copies of the bible all over the world, in fact you probably have one in your house right now, but back then, this was the only one copy in the whole world.  Imagine, if it had been thrown away with the rest of the trash, we wouldn’t have much of what we call the bible to read, today.  But God wouldn’t allow the story of Him and His people to be discarded for eternity, instead it was God’s plan to protect and preserve it, even for you and me.  Yes, God had you and me in mind when he didn’t allow His story to be destroyed.  But if the Book of Moses is so important and valuable, how and why was it tossed into a pile trash?

In the Book of Moses there is a list of rules that all of us are to obey, if we wish to please God, they are called the Ten Commandments.  The list had been given to Moses many years before by God and was to be passed on to all future generations.  I’m sure there are things and ideas that have been told or given to you from either your grandfather or great grandfather, or maybe your grandmother or great grandmother.  Now that you know or have them, you can someday pass them on to your children in much the same way.  When my father died, I gave my sons and daughter special things that once belonged to him with the expectation that they would value them and keep them for their children.  There was a coin collection, old guns, pictures even jewelry but even more important are the stories and memories about Grandpa Jim.

Well, this list of rules given by God has always caused problems for people and still does today.  In fact, they’re a problem for you and me, as well.  The list includes things like, do not steal, do not lie and a real tough one; do not tell lies about other people.  The real tough one, for Josiah’s father and grandfather, was not to worship other god’s except the one true God of Israel.  That’s the one they couldn’t keep and the one that caused the most of their problems.  The god’s of Israel’s neighbors had no problem with stealing, killing and lying, but why?  Because their gods were made up, pretend, and the rules they passed along to their children were not to please the one true God, only themselves.  Their most important rule was that they themselves made the rules and not God.

I can remember when I was a kid, my parents would often give me rules that I didn’t like and sometimes when they weren’t looking, I would disobey and do what I was told not to do.  More often than not, I would get caught and then punished.  The rules my parents made for my brother and I weren’t unfair, although we often felt they were.  They were rules made for the purpose of keeping me safe and to help us recognize and understand right and wrong.  It is the same with God’s rules and why it’s good to read them and remember them.  They can be found in The Book of Moses; Exodus, chapter twenty and Deuteronomy, chapter five.

Ten Commandments

1. You shall have no other gods besides me (the real God).
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol (something to worship besides God).
3. You shall not misuse God’s name.
4. Remember the Lord’s Day (Sunday) and keep it holy (go to church and make Sunday special).
5. Honor your father and mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not be unfaithful (keep your promises).
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not lie or lie about other people.
10. You shall not want or desire what doesn’t belong to you.

Home Project:  Get several pieces of paper and copy the Ten Commandments onto them or have your mom or dad help you if you can’t write yet.  Maybe you can draw a picture on them as well.  Roll them up to make a scroll and then tie a ribbon or string around them to keep them rolled up.  Tie a bow like you do when tying your shoes.  Your scrolls will be just like the ones Josiah’s helpers found in the temple.

The Boy King

An eight-year old boy by the name of Josiah became king of the Southern Kingdom of Israel over 2,600 years ago and would rule his kingdom as the godliest king since David the giant slayer.  You may have heard about David, the boy who killed a giant with only a sling shot and a stone. But how do I know the story of the boy king named Josiah or the story of David?  Because I read about Josiah in the Bible, a book that God gave all of us to read so that we might know Him.  The Bible is full of stories about God and His people, but also about people who refused to obey God.

 

The world of Josiah was nothing like ours for it was a time when there was no television, no computers, no radio or telephones, cars or jet planes, no bicycles or scooters; not even a stove or washing machine.  Men walked where they needed to go if they couldn’t afford a beast to ride on.  They fought their wars with swords and clubs instead of guns and bombs.  This was a time when great beasts roamed the country side, and the only defense was strong legs to run or a sword, axe or club to slay the beast.  Life for most people was more like a camping trip, which may sound like fun to us but in those days, every day was a struggle for survival.  The kings lived better than their subjects but being king required constant diligence because there were enemies just beyond the next hill or across the nearest river or sea.  You see there were many kings and many kingdoms in those days, and they grew rich by killing and stealing from their neighbors, and although the nation of Israel should have been different because it was God’s chosen, the reality was that they too fought to gain wealth and power just like their ungodly neighbors.  Even Israel, God’s chosen people, was divided into northern and southern tribes who were often in conflict and jealous of each other.

 

This was the world Josiah was born into, the son of an evil king and grandson of Israel’s most wicked king, Manasseh.  Josiah’s father, Amon, was killed by his own household servants after serving as king for only two years, because he was evil and wicked like his father before him. So what hope did Josiah have in becoming a good and godly king at the age of eight; how might he survive and prosper his people?  Josiah would not follow in his father and grandfather’s footsteps but instead “did right in the eyes of the Lord God.”  Josiah chose instead to follow the guidance of his loving mother Jedidah and would do things of greatness that could not be measured by wealth and the riches born of battle and strife.

 

Josiah was only a teenager, when God spoke to his heart and told him to destroy all the statues of the evil and wicked gods that had invaded the kingdom of Judah years before. God also told Josiah to rebuild the temple of the only real and true God of Israel, whose name was so holy that it should not even be spoken.  That’s right, the people of Israel were not even to say the name of God, it was so special.  What made God’s name so special then and still today? It was because God created all the earth and everything that lives in and on it, above and below it.  God didn’t need tools or lumber, brick or stone or anything else.  All God needed to do was say the word and it was done.  In fact, God created the earth, sun, moon and stars in only four days and then finished His work creating every living thing by the end of the sixth day.  By the seventh day, God was finished and declared all that He had made as good and good it was.  This is what makes God’s name so special.

 

Well, it was now time for Josiah to get down to work and start the rebuilding of God’s temple.  Now in those days a temple was much the same as a church is today; a special place where people go to worship God.  What is worship?  It’s our way of telling God thank you for everything He has done for us, like creating the world in which we live.  But, it’s so much more than that.  God created something that is more important than all the stuff in the world, much more important than all the toys we received for Christmas or on our birthday, the homes we live in, the cars we ride in, the beautiful trees, mountains, lakes and seas.  Do you know what it is?  You can’t touch it, but it touches you, you can hear it in people’s voices and see it in what people do.  Do you know what it is yet?  It is the most important thing God created.  It’s the one thing we all want and if we don’t have it, life isn’t worth living.  I’ve made a list of things below, can you pick out which is God’s greatest creation.

Is it good food, having fun, being smart, being handsome or pretty, having a brother or sister, being free to do what we want, or is it… love?

 (2Kings 22: 1-23:30; 2Chronicles 34:1 – 35:27; Genesis chapters 1 and 2)

Tomorrow we’ll learn more about how Josiah, the boy king, would rebuild the temple and a very surprising discovery he and his friend’s made

Something to Do

I always liked school.  Now don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t the classes I liked so much but being with my friends and all.  Whenever I was sick and had to stay home it was fun for a while but it wouldn’t be long before boredom would take over.  The only thing I liked better than school was when summer vacation rolled around.  No more rushing around in the morning getting ready to meet the bus and making sure I didn’t forget this or that; time was no longer an issue and watching the clock, a thing of the past.

 

I was lucky because I had an older brother so if my friend’s weren’t able to come over to my house or I to theirs, I always had someone to do stuff with.  Most days I would start off the day by walking to my friend Gary’s house and just hang around until we came up with something to do.  Gary had a tree house so we almost always climbed the tree ladder and ducked inside to plan the rest of our day.  Some days we would walk down the block to another friend’s house that had a garden as big as a small farm.  Steve was his name and his mother always allowed us to go into the garden to look for frogs, toads, garden snakes or grasshoppers.  Steve’s mom always told us not to kill the frogs, toads or snakes because they were good for the garden, just how we never could figure out, but the grasshoppers we could have our way with.  Once we captured a baby mouse and couldn’t decide if it was on the “don’t kill list” or not, so we decided to let it live.  Now it wasn’t that we tried to kill any of them, except for the grasshoppers, they all just always seemed to wind up dead after we played with them for a while.  As for the grasshoppers, we usually plucked the big hind legs off them and watched the legs keep jumping even after having been detached.  It sounds kind of gross, I know, but after all they’re just bugs.

 

As much fun as it was to have the summer off from school and although there was a lot to do, sometimes I’d get bored anyway and go in the house, whining to my Mother, “I’m bored…there’s nothing to do.”  Mother would respond the same way almost every time, “Don’t you know it’s a sin to be bored, I’ll find you something to do.”  What that really meant was she would find some chore for me I didn’t want to do, so being bored didn’t seem so bad after all.  After one of those whining sessions, my brother and I went back to moping on the stoop outside the back door until my brother said, “I’ve got a good idea, follow me!”

 

We ran into our dark and kind of scary garage that was even kind of scary with light on and the big door open.  That was probably because there was always an ample collection of spider webs almost everywhere and the big black spiders that made them.  Now my dad had a lot of tools and a work bench with a very large metal tool called a vise.  It was like a giant pliers bolted to the bench which my dad used to hold stuff when he was working them, like when he was sawing something. He’d put the piece of wood in its jaws and turn the crank until it was tightly held in place and then saw away.  My brother’s idea was that we would use it to crush stuff, what kind of stuff you ask?  Well, we started out with rocks, acorns, grapes, bugs, apples and when we got bored with that, we went in the house and brought out small toy’s we didn’t care about and crushed them.  We put some firecrackers and caps in the vise and cranked them down, but nothing happened.  We even got a hard-boiled egg out of the refrigerator and put it in the crusher, which was pretty cool.  Then I went into the back yard and picked up one of the many bones that were lying around that belonged to our dog, Lady.  We didn’t like Lady much because she didn’t like us, so we surely wouldn’t feel guilty destroying one of her bones.  But much to our disappointment we weren’t able to make much progress in crushing it with the vise.  Then we got an idea that would not turn out the way we’d planned.

 

My dad had come home from work while we were crushing stuff in the vise and of course parked his car in the garage, paying little or no attention to what we were doing.  We got the idea that that it would be cool to put the bone under the rear tire of my father’s car and see if when he backed out of the garage in the morning, the car would crush the bone into a million pieces.  Now the one we chose was a sharp pot roast bone, not one of those smooth round ones.  We would find out in the morning why that was significant choice.  After placing the bone under the right rear tire we went in the house and decided we would go out in the morning and watch my dad pull out of the garage when he went to work and then examine the remains of the bone.  We even talked about how Lady would like it when we gave her the bone back, already chewed into pieces.

 

It’s important to know a little about our dog, Lady before you find out the rest of the story.  Lady was a Black Cocker Spaniel with a very bad attitude much of the time and one of those times was during and after she had her dinner.  If you got anywhere near her while she was eating she would growl at you and no one, not even my dad, could pet her or even get near her after she’d had her dinner.  Lady just wanted to sleep after eating and if you got near her, she would growl; so it was best if you kept your distance.  I don’t think even my mom and dad had much affection for her when she got that way.

 

Well, at breakfast we watched the clock, anxious for 7:00AM to arrive so my dad would leave for work.  When the time finally came we followed him out the door and waited on the stoop to witness the crushing of the bone.  What happened next we never expected or had even considered.  As my dad put the car into reverse and started to back-up we heard a muffled popping sound, followed by a long hissing sound and to our horror we watched my father’s right rear tire go flat as a morning  pancake.  My father also must have heard the sound and jumped out of the car to find out what had happened.  When he saw the flat tire he said something I can’t repeat and returned to the car to pull it forward off the gravel and onto the concrete apron in front of the garage.  This time when he got out of the car he saw the bone lying on the ground a few feet in back of the right rear tire and  yelled, “Where’s that darned dog, she’s going to get it!”  Lady was laying in the grass only a few feet from the car and as my dad reached to grab her by the collar to give the spanking of her life, so we thought, my brother and I both yelled, “Stop…don’t hurt her, it’s not her fault!”

 

Dad immediately stopped and turned toward us with a face I’ll never forget.  Now we’d seen our dad plenty mad before, but never worse than this fateful moment.  He replied saying, “What do you mean it’s not Lady’s fault?”  As we explained our plan for crushing the bone, we could see the anger drain from my father’s face until we could even see a hint of a smile in the corners of his mouth.  Dad said, “That is probably the dumbest plan I’ve ever heard and although I’ll have to call the office and tell them I’ll be late getting in, and probably have to buy a new tire that we can’t afford right now, I’m proud of both of you.”  I then asked what both my brother and I were thinking, “why are you proud of us for giving you a flat tire?”  Dad replied, “I’m not proud or happy with you for putting the bone under my tire, but I am proud of you for admitting it and before I punished the dog for something you both did.  Just for that you can help me change it and when we’re done, maybe mom has a few more of those blueberry pancakes for us.”  Well changing the tire was anything but boring and what could have been a terrible morning, instead turned out to be one of the best of the summer.  Dad took the rest of the day off and we went with him to the gas station to get a new tire.  Dad told the man at the gas station the whole story about how the tire went flat and they all had quite a laugh. When we got home, dad showed us how to do more productive things with the vise than crushing stuff; we sawed a few boards and cleared out all the spider webs we could find.

 

What does the story have to say about having a brother or sister, telling the truth, being bored, respecting animals and about trusting your mom and dad no matter hard it might be at the time?

The Detectives

The Detectives

Along with my two best friends, John and John, we wanted to form our own detective agency, just like the one on the TV show our parents watched on Saturday night; after we were in bed.  Now this may have seemed unusual at the time since cowboy shows where the favorite of every kid in those days.  But there were a few things that made this show appealing and the object of our attention.  First of all we weren’t allowed to stay up and watch it, so it must be good.   But even if you had never seen an episode, you knew all the characters and their names, from those lucky few at school who were allowed to stay up that late.  Everybody’s favorite character was a young man, probably not much older that a teenager, by the name of Kooky Burns.  He was the coolest guy on TV; he drove a cool car, wore cool clothes and had the coolest haircut.  In fact, his hair was probably the most famous thing about him.  Every kid in school knew at least one line from the show, “Kooky, Kooky, lend me your comb.”  Kooky liked to comb his hair a lot.

Another thing that drew us to the program was the title of the show, “77 Sunset Strip.”  This was why, we thought, our folks didn’t want us to watch it; anything with the word “strip” in it must be naughty and not for kids our age.  Now we weren’t quite sure what kind of mysteries these cool detectives worked on each week, but we were sure that if we couldn’t find any cases to work on for real, our imaginations would provide all we needed.

The first order of business was to set up an office to work out of and it was decided that John’s garage, John Ryan that is, was the best place.  John’s house was closest to school, so when the final bell rang, we could quickly reach our office and get right down to business.  We set up in the garage and used a stack of wood pallets to build the walls and borrowed a card table from John’s mom for our desk.  Each of us brought stuff from home to furnish it, like an old lamp, paper, pens and pencils, a box for our case files, three folding chairs and an assortment of stuff I pulled out of my father’s desk at home.  Some of the stuff I borrowed we had no idea what they were for but if it was in Dad’s desk it must be important to have, just in case.  However, our prized possession was also the most essential tool of any detective, an old black phone I had found in the attic. Every detective show I had ever seen, the detective spent more time on the phone than looking for clues.   We brought play guns from home, since every detective needs a gun, and decided to make our own credentials out of cardboard, for identification purposes of course.  We even taped one of the pictures we had taken at school inside, to make them official.  I was glad that I had decided not to smile for last year’s picture; detective work is serious business and requires a serious face.

Just as we got everything set up, exactly the way we wanted, we had our first visitor to the “77 Sunset Street Detective Agency” (we left out the Strip, for obvious reasons).  It was Rodney and his younger sister Rhonda who lived just a couple houses down the street.  But it wouldn’t be long before our excitement turned to disappointment when John, John, and I learned that Rodney and his sister weren’t there to hand us our first case; instead it was to deliver a request that would not be easy to answer.  Rodney had heard about our newly formed partnership for solving crimes and unraveling mysteries from the kid’s at school and what he asked next was completely unexpected, “My sister and I want to join your detective agency, can we?”  My answer was short and to the point, “You can, but you may not!”   My answer confused Rodney at first but when his sister Rhonda began to cry, he soon got the import of my reply.

There was a moment of silence, then John (John Hall that is) remarked using perfect logic, “Of course you can’t join, we only have three chairs; and besides we don’t allow girls.”  John and I shook our heads in agreement and thought that was that, but then Rodney said something that caused us to rethink our decision.  “I could bring a chair from home or I could just stand and as far as my sister is concerned, I’ll talk to her…she’ll understand why she can’t belong.  Besides, I have a case we can work on right now and it’s very important and kind of dangerous.”  Well we surely didn’t need another partner but since we didn’t know when we might get a real case to work on, I knew that I spoke for John and John when I replied, “OK, you’re in; so what’s this case we need to work on?”

Rodney explained that his great Aunt Hildegard’s dog was missing and that was why he and his sister had dropped by in the first place.  He figured that this was a job for local detectives and since he’d be helping out with the investigation anyway, he might as well ask to become a member of the “77 Sunset street” detective agency.  We all sat down, except for Rodney since he didn’t have a chair, and listened to the description of the dog in question and the circumstances surrounding the disappearance.  “The dog’s name is Mike and he’s small, brown and pretty mean.” said Rodney.  We were all even more excited than ever since now there was an element of risk and danger to the case…not just a dog but a mean dog.

Mike, we were told, disappeared earlier in the day and it wasn’t until Aunt Hildegard went to let him in the house did she discover that the rope Mike was tied to, mysteriously broke or came untied.  Aunt Hildegard walked around the neighborhood trying to find Mike for most of an hour but to no avail.  She called the city dog pound and reported Mike missing but according to Hildegard, any success in finding him didn’t sound promising.  Although Rodney’s Aunt tried not to upset him or his sister Rhonda by the news of Mike’s disappearance, from the tears in Aunt Hildegard’s eyes, everyone was upset by the news.  It was then that Rodney decided to take the case to the 77 Sunset Street team for help.

We all took notes as the story unfolded and there was no doubt that this was our kind of case and as for clues, there was a lot of things to follow-up on and more questions than answers.  It was a good thing we’d stocked the office with lots of paper and pens, because we wrote down all that Rodney told us.  Now, the first order of business was to get a better description of Mike, but before I could ask, Rodney added, “I’ve got a picture at home of Aunt Hildegard and Mike in her back yard, I’ll go and get it!” “That’s great, go get it and we’ll meet up at your Aunt’s house and look for clues.” I replied.

Upon arriving at Aunt Hildegard’s, before we could get down to business, there was one more issue that needed to get resolved.  Rodney said, “Rhonda is still upset and very sad about not being allowed to be part of the agency.  I really don’t think its right that you won’t let her be one of the detectives.  She’s not just any old girl, she’s my sister, and Aunt Hildegard is her aunt too.”  Rodney was right, one girl wouldn’t be so bad and besides, she was pretty nice.  John was the first one to reply saying, “We’ll let her work on this case and if she is a help, she can become one of us.”  Well that was that and now it was time to start looking for clues.

The first thing we looked at was the rope and Rodney was right, it hadn’t come untied; it had either broke or been cut on purpose.  Like all good detectives I’d seen on Saturday morning cartoons, I had tucked in the pocket of my jeans a magnifying glass I used to look at stuff or burn, like leaves or bugs.  Upon close examination it was obvious how the rope had broken. Under the magnifying glass I could clearly see teeth marks where Mike had chewed through the rope and although it was good to know for sure how Mike got away, it was much more exciting to think that someone might have cut the rope and taken him away.  So all that was left to do now was to find him!

For the next hour we walked the neighborhood whistling and calling out Mike’s name.  Only Rodney and I whistled since the other didn’t know how.  Then as we approached the end of a cull-de- sac, we saw Mike sniffing around a mailbox post as if he didn’t have a care in the world.  We started to run in his direction but as soon as Mike saw us he took off into a backyard.  Rodney suggested we split up and go around both sides of the house so Mike couldn’t give us the slip and at first it appeared to be working, but as John approached the dog, Mike bared his teeth and let out a low and menacing growl.  John stepped back in real fear as Rodney stepped forward.  Once again, Mike bared his teeth, only this time he looked even meaner.  We could see every tooth in Mike’s mouth and his eyes looked like that of a mad dog for sure.  Rodney’s knees began to shake in terror so he retreated to a safer distance.  What happened next however surprised us all.

Without the slightest hesitation, Rhonda began to walk toward the dog with her hand outstretched, actually scolding Mike for his behavior.  We couldn’t believe it, there wasn’t even a hint of fear on Rhonda’s face, in fact she was smiling.  Within seconds Mike laid down on the ground and Rhonda proceeded to rub his belly, bringing an end to the danger and our fear.  Rhonda picked Mike up in her arms and we all turned and headed toward Aunt Hildegard’s house.  We boy’s walked in silence at first, slightly embarrassed by our fearful behavior, and then John broke the silence saying to Rhonda, “That was about the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”  I followed up by adding, “I guess we would have been in real trouble if you hadn’t been with us, thank you!”  It was John, Ryan that is, who said what we all were thinking, “If anyone deserves being a detective in the 77 Sunset Street Detective Agency it’s you, Rhonda.”  Rhonda didn’t say a word, she only smiled.

Can you find the examples of fairness, gratitude, loyalty, and humility in this story?

Ingress and Egress

If your house is anything like mine, you have more than one entry and exit point, in legal jargon its multiple points of ingress and egress.  At my house the door from the garage is where you enter and exit to use the car and if you have dirty shoes; the front door is for arriving and exiting guests and the sliding glass door in the kitchen area is primarily the dog’s exit and entry point, unless she has dirty feet, of course.  In fact, most everywhere you go that has multiple doors, those doors or gates have a designated purpose.  Well the city gates of Jerusalem were no different in that each of the ten gates listed needed to be repaired by Nehemiah’s crews and had a name associated with them which in some way described it’s purpose (Nehemiah, chapter three).

The sheep gate was for sheep entering and exiting the city and the fish gate was for the fishermen coming in from the Sea of Galilee.  My favorite name is the dung gate and it was used for, you guessed it!  It was also the gate from which all the refuse of the city passed through on its way to the dump outside the city.  One might surmise that odor might have had something to do with their designation and separation from the rest! Just like your house or the gates of Jerusalem, you have multiple points of ingress and egress in your marriage relationship and it too will be impacted by what you let in and what is allowed to leave.  The walls you have built around your marriage are only a protective barrier if you closely monitor what comes through its doors and gates.

Let’s take a look at what was coming into and out of the city gates of Jerusalem and how it applies to the marriage relationship.  It won’t involve sheep, fish or dung but instead, things that are far more important.  All the effort that has been expended in rebuilding the walls and gates is of no value and only a temporary fix, if the wrong things are allowed to enter and exit.

In chapters two and four we read that Nehemiah’s work was being opposed by Judah’s three closest neighbors and the tool or weapon they initially chose to employ was “ridicule” and as we all know, ridicule only works if those who hear it accept it and decide to lend it credence.  If you allow it in and decide to become an accomplice or participant, don’t be surprised when things start to escalate out of control.  It probably started off innocently enough since, at least from your perspective, it wasn’t ridicule but only a small but sharply pointed teasing or just making fun.  Or maybe it was something you over heard and decided that you’d use in retaliation.  Hey, you didn’t start it, someone else did.  But does that make it any less hurtful and derisive?  Even if it is done with no derogatory intent, is it worth the risk, just for a good laugh?  The apostle Paul reminds us multiple times that we are to “encourage one another and build each other up and as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers.”  Wouldn’t you suppose that your husband or wife deserves no less?  Ridicule is certainly something we shouldn’t let enter through the gates.

There are three things that should be allowed through every entry point of our marriage and never allowed to be forced out by anyone or anything.  They are spoken about in both chapters eight and nine of Nehemiah chronicle.  They are the reading of God’s word, the practice of regular worship and sacrifice to and for God, and prayer.  We are all going to make mistakes when it comes to letting the devil in the door, face it, sometimes we do it intentionally, thinking it will be OK, just this once… saying to ourselves “I can control it.” Being able to rationalize the irrational is something we all engage in from time to time.  Ironic isn’t it, since our ability to make rational and thoughtful decisions is a gift from God and what separates us from the rest of creation and testifies to the fact that we were created in His image.  It is by reading God’s word, worship and prayer we are able to keep our focus on God, who provides all that we have, including the security we have through Christ our Lord.

Regular worship, sacrifice for the sake of others and prayer are welcome additions to the regular and necessary activities that make up the lives of those who fear God and wish to enjoy His blessings.  They are for the purpose of building each other up in the love and admonition of the Lord. But if we allow them to slip away out of negligence or rebellion, they will be replaced by those things that will tear our families apart and separate us from the love of God.

What are those points of ingress and egress in your marriage?  You know what they are, your thought life, your computer, your television, your recreational pursuits, your friends, your children’s friends, your career, and your finances. Should I continue with the list?  Did you notice that none of these are things you shouldn’t have, utilize or enjoy?  The problem is how you use them and for what purpose. Is it to build each other up for the purpose bringing each other closer to God in Christ, or is to gratify your own selfish desires that only separate you from those you love and the love of God in Christ?

Tool #285  Simple awareness is the first step in making good choices and informed decisions.  Being aware is about being wary of those things that are always trying to enter the gates of your life and knowing what to let in and what to keep out.