Looking ahead to future harmony

The story of Jacob and Esau includes ambition, greed, inheritance, and divided parental expectations. In Middle East culture, the firstborn son got the lion share of the family goods. With goods came authority. Being the firstborn brought great responsibilities to care for the family, but that son determined how the rest of his family lived.

Esau beat Jacob into the world by just a few minutes. From birth, Jacob grasped Esau's heel and wanted the privileges and rights of his older brother. Here's part of the story - how Jacob legally stole the inheritance:

One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry. Esau said to Jacob, "I'm starved! Give me some of that red stew."' (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom, which means 'red.')

"All right," Jacob replied, "but trade me your rights as the firstborn son."

"Look, I'm dying of starvation!" said Esau. "What good is my birthright to me now?"

But Jacob said, "First you must swear that your birthright is mine"' So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob.

Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. Esau ate the meal, then got up and left. He showed contempt for his rights as the firstborn. Genesis 25:29–34 NLT

Eventually Esau and Jacob's descendents became foes. They fought for land and power in later generations. The enmity of their forefathers became a wedge between neighbors and cousins.

What kind of a legacy are you building with your siblings and friends? Are you a heart friend? A selfish conniver? A peacemaker? A thorn in the family's side? How will later generations speak of you?

 Think of ways you could show love, forgiveness, and inclusion to those around you. We'd love your ideas!

 

Lent Day 2: "I choose you"

It's great to be chosen. Remember those awful ordeals in elementary school, where the strongest kids were chosen for sports teams and the rest of us got picked "middle and end" of the draw?

Over 36 years ago, my good friend and I chose each other. We got engaged. My mom and I planned the wedding and sent invitations to friends and acquaintances.

Over 35 years ago, W (that friend) and I got married. We agreed our marriage would be "for better and worse, in sickness and in health, for richer and poorer." I walked down the aisle thinking, "This is the person I'll grow old with. I bet I'll still like him when we are 60." (Mind you, I also thought, "Thank God, I don't have to date anymore." A strange sentiment for a bride, perhaps?)

W and I have had romantic years and fight-it-out years. Kid years when we hardly saw each other: I nearly drowned in childcare and homeschooling while W worked overtime at church. We spent years praying and puzzling about how to guide our interesting and exasperating teens. There were years of sickness and health for our daughter when we had barely enough energy to get up in the morning. Two sons married. One child moved out of town. We went back to school to learn new things. We traveled to foreign lands to teach. And we're still together.

Even more enduring (and endearing) is the model of love we learned as part of God's family. God chose us and committed to us before we loved him or knew him. He called us to Himself, inclined us to listen and respond, and provided reconciliation between us through Jesus Christ.

On this second day of Lent, I'm grateful for many experiences of loving and being loved. God has taught us that love is meant for giving and receiving. W and I are blessed with good parents and siblings. We love our children. We have many friends to hold dear.

Underneath the experiences and the years are the Everlasting Arms, sustaining, caring, and enriching every interaction. I'm so glad to be God's beloved this Valentine's Day. How about you?

Oh ... and of course I'm grateful for Prince Charming, too! Love you, hon.

Read more:
*I am the Lord your God, who teaches you for your own good, who leads you in the way you should go. Isaiah 48:17

*Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31 NIV

*Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:7-11 NIV


Moravian Prayer: Instructor of the universe, we wait with open and longing hearts for you to teach us the ways in which we should live in a right relationship with all you have created. Amen. 

Father's Day to a loving meanie

 

What do you think of when someone says, "Dad"? Is your dad someone who makes you think of God as a loving advocate or an overbearing authoritarian? Is there no middle ground?

We always hear how "good dads" go to sports games, play with their kids, and spend time with their families. My dad participated in our lives, but he did more. He established boundaries of authority and respect that have served us abundantly into adulthood. I'd like to say a big thank you today to a dad who took his fathering seriously. While he enjoyed us, nurtured us, and provided well, he also instilled in us high morals and godly principles.

My father was strict. We all knew he said what he meant and meant what he said. He proved it to us with spankings, groundings, and restrictions.

Yet we never doubted his love. When we had disobeyed and received due punishment, we quit doing wrong, knowing he cared about us enough to set us straight. Being the second child, I landed in the first wave of "this is how good children behave." I guess my older brother and I caught the brunt of "good training." It didn't help that I had a flash temper and minimal self-control as a youngster! Our two younger brothers fared better at the end of the rod. Probably L and I wore Dad and Mom down: surprisingly, our other two siblings turned out fine.

The youngest remarked to me a few years ago, "You know, I never saw Dad discipline us in anger. Dad's attitude was, 'You deserve this punishment, so here it is.' Then we'd be done. He never held over hostility to us kids afterwards or showed his frustration."

Today most Americans would call strict parents like mine "mean" or "cruel." Spanking is out of fashion and illegal as the government overreaches into normal families to try to prevent abuse by evil parents. I deplore abuse and cruelty, let's be clear about that.



However, Dad truly demonstrated how a good parent behaves. Never malicious, he allowed a good appeal. We had open discussions about anything we wanted to talk about around the kitchen table. We weren't afraid of him... unless we knew we were deliberately disobeying. Then we looked over our shoulders, knowing we'd earned what was coming.  

Thanks from the bottom of our hearts, Dad. We love and trust God today because we learned to love and trust you completely.

As a mom of grown kids and an appreciative daughter, here's a word to young dads on their special day of honor. A great parent will not let their child rule the roost and abdicate their responsibility by letting a child run wild. Watching some kids sass and hit their parents, I shudder to think of these crazy adolescents on the loose in a few years. Employers, coworkers, and even prison guards may be cursing these children's irresponsible parents in the future.

Dads, please do your duty. Scripture not only encourages, but demands that you establish and enforce worthy rules and boundaries! Pray and read the Bible with your kids. Go to those games. Hug your kids. Hold down a steady job - even if it's not your dream work - to provide for the family. But don't neglect the core character training God has entrusted to you. No one else can - or will - do it for you. Your kids and their future depend on it! 

Read more:
*Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you. Deut. 8:5 NIV

*Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches man lack knowledge? Psa. 94:10   NIV

*The LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. Prov. 3:12 NIV

*The Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” Heb. 12:6 NIV

*Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. Heb. 12:10 NIV