Here we are in a tight economy, and it’s prime time for us to go back to the basics. Not just the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic, but the basics of our faith. We can teach some new lessons to our children:
1. If 3 gifts was good enough for the first Christmas of Baby Jesus, then it’s good enough for you.
2. If the first bed of Baby Jesus was an animal manger, then secondhand furniture is good enough for you.
3. If Jesus knew enough about his faith to talk intelligently to priests and scribes when he was 12, then you can pay attention to your religious ed. lesson today.
4. If Jesus listened to his mama and did what she asked at the wedding of Cana, then you can do the same for me right here, right now.
5. If Jesus could share his loaves and fish to feed thousands, then you can share your food to feed the poor today.
6. If Jesus could wash the feet of his disciples, then you can wipe off your muddy shoes before you set foot on my kitchen floor.
7. If Jesus could ride a borrowed donkey into Jerusalem at the age of 33, then we can buy a used car and be thankful for it.
As I shared this with a wise old friend of mine, I was given number 8, “If Jesus could forgive Peter for denying him 3 times, then you can forgive your children when they don’t meet your expectations.”
End of list. Then I realized number 9: Instead of looking at the specks in my children’s eyes or the mud across their backsides, I needed to pull the plank from my own eyes. When I pray for God to change me, then He changes my whole family dynamic and can make the toughest spots cleaner.
Then I will better realize the truth – number 10.
If Jesus can suffer and die on a cross for our sins in general and my own in particular, the least I can do is follow Him.
