WISDOM WEDNESDAY

Vol. 1 Issue 9 - 4-20-22

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

- II Peter 3:18

Greetings Church,

This past Sunday was a pivotal event in the life of our church and every church that calls itself Christian. The resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ powerfully authenticates the work done on the cross. The incarnate Son of God laid down His life for us and took it up again, all to the glory of the Father.

As I have been thinking about this reality and the reality of many factors in my life, I have come to realize the powerful privilege I have to be living in these times. Watching my grandchildren grow into little people and then young adults is such a powerful responsibility. This watching reminds me of our spiritual heritage in the scriptures. The Apostle Peter used a very familiar line of reasoning when preaching in Solomon's Portico when he said, "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses." (Acts 3:13-15)

Peter builds upon a common foundation for all listening to him to consider. That foundation is that God established a relationship with the fathers of the faith, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Men who lived their lives imperfectly yet longing to express their faith through those lives. Men God used to safeguard a people unto Himself. Men God molded and shaped as instruments of His grace. As each day passes I find myself longing to be used as such in the lives of my grandchildren. When I see the joy in their faces, the hope of what their lives will become and the wonder of how God will bring that all about, I find myself wanting to be more faithful to Jesus. To be laying a foundational heritage that is built upon Christ and His Word.

Peter also makes it clear that he and John are witnesses of the events he speaks about. Witnesses who have eyewitness testimony unto the person and work of Jesus Christ. Witnesses who are emboldened by the power of the Holy Spirit that came upon them at Pentecost. Witnesses who were willing to share the wonder and love of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Each time I whisper into a grandchild's ear I love you, I feel the love of the Father whispering the same into mine. For my love for them is firmly rooted in His love for me. This love is something no one can take from me. "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus the Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

What a joy to know with such confidence that my love is secure in God's love. What a joy to pass on to the next generation that same love I have experienced. What a joy to ponder the many lives to be lived beyond mine, if the Lord tarries, that will hear of that great love because of a simple whisper of love into the ear of a child.

It is my prayer that each of us consider how we should build a faithful heritage to pass on to the next generation as we await the return of our Lord. We wait with security because His word is faithful and true. His word never returns to Him empty or void. His Word is the very Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May we all find in our daily walk the wonderful privilege it is to be loved by God and to share that love with the world. May we be as bold as Peter and John in the midst of confronting those who were part of God's plan to put Jesus to death, to offer to this world in which we live the love of Christ to their longing hearts. May we be known by our faithful heritage that we are not just church goers but followers of Jesus.

Blessings,

PBS