Tuesday was one of those days where everything seemed to follow a theme even though it wasn't planned. The morning started out with a talk I had with Noah about keeping his word. He had light-heartedly said that he promised to do something tomorrow that he didn't want to do today. So, I told him that he didn't need to promise anything but that when he said he would do something he had better follow through and do it. That's what it means to be trustworthy and honorable. Later we were reading in the Bible for 'Circle Time' and it happened to be in Matthew on the Sermon on the Mount and the 'Beattitudes". Verses 33-37 of chapter 5 stuck out: "...Do not swear at all...simply let your yes be yes and your no be no". So the lesson Noah had learned earlier was reinforced in the best way--thru the Word of God.
Further on we read that we are to love our enemies not just those who love us because that's very easy to do and there isn't much reward in that. But we are to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. Jesus gave us many examples of loving our enemies. I explained to Noah that basically an enemy is someone who is mean to you and that loving them doesn't mean that you have to go and give them a hug and a kiss. It does mean that you shouldn't be mean back to them. You love them by treating them the way you want to be treated. That's not an easy thing to do but that is why the reward is so great.
We have been listening to the Little House on the Praire series and in "Little Town on the Prarie", the prissy Nellie Olson rejoins the cast of characters. Laura finds her to be just as mean and nasty as she was before but now Laura has a bit of an advantage and she uses that to get back at Nellie. Well, Nellie doesn't take too kindly to that and soon enough Laura finds that she is being treated very unfairly by her teacher who has taken Nellie into her confidences and it all stems back to the one thing Laura said to Nellie in retaliation for all her meanness. What was so interesting was that Laura talked about trying to control her temper and trying to do the right thing -- knowing that she was like the cup and the dish that are clean only on the outside (Matthew 23:25) -- but she gave into her desire to get even and look where it got her. (Oh, there is just so much in those stories -- I think I am into them just as much if not more than Noah is!)
But listening to that story was like an illustration in reality of the principle Jesus was teaching in Matthew and again, the lesson was reinforced for Noah. As it was for me. I have found that reading through the Scripture with the kids is so beneficial for me because, not only am I reading it regularly, but I am having to look at it through children's eyes and try and explain it in terms that they will understand and it becomes so much more clear to me too!
A couple of weeks ago we read about Jesus starting his ministry and people were unbelieving of him because "...no prophet is accepted in His own hometown."(John 4:24) and "Nazareth, can anything good come from there?" (John 1:46). Again I explained that it would be like Noah growing up to be a prophet for God -- someone who tells people the Word of God -- and his friends remember him just as the boy who always wanted to play with Hot Wheels. They might have a hard time hearing the Word from that boy. Well, Noah's response was, "It sure is a good thing I am learning about God now". Often he prays and thanks God that he is able to learn about Him. It is just such an encouragement to me to hear him say things like that!
So anyway, to get back to Tuesday...I had Bible Study that night and the section of Scripture that we read for this week, of course, contained the Sermon on the Mount and the theme continued and I have been thinking about it all week. The Beatitudes have always seemed to me to be unattainable and just some paradigm but my Mother-in-law (who hosts the Bible study) said it so well: It is a picture of what I am becoming in Christ. It is all about our character and conforming our character to Him. It really is simple in it's essence and Matthew 7:12 says it so well, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
Further on we read that we are to love our enemies not just those who love us because that's very easy to do and there isn't much reward in that. But we are to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. Jesus gave us many examples of loving our enemies. I explained to Noah that basically an enemy is someone who is mean to you and that loving them doesn't mean that you have to go and give them a hug and a kiss. It does mean that you shouldn't be mean back to them. You love them by treating them the way you want to be treated. That's not an easy thing to do but that is why the reward is so great.
We have been listening to the Little House on the Praire series and in "Little Town on the Prarie", the prissy Nellie Olson rejoins the cast of characters. Laura finds her to be just as mean and nasty as she was before but now Laura has a bit of an advantage and she uses that to get back at Nellie. Well, Nellie doesn't take too kindly to that and soon enough Laura finds that she is being treated very unfairly by her teacher who has taken Nellie into her confidences and it all stems back to the one thing Laura said to Nellie in retaliation for all her meanness. What was so interesting was that Laura talked about trying to control her temper and trying to do the right thing -- knowing that she was like the cup and the dish that are clean only on the outside (Matthew 23:25) -- but she gave into her desire to get even and look where it got her. (Oh, there is just so much in those stories -- I think I am into them just as much if not more than Noah is!)
But listening to that story was like an illustration in reality of the principle Jesus was teaching in Matthew and again, the lesson was reinforced for Noah. As it was for me. I have found that reading through the Scripture with the kids is so beneficial for me because, not only am I reading it regularly, but I am having to look at it through children's eyes and try and explain it in terms that they will understand and it becomes so much more clear to me too!
A couple of weeks ago we read about Jesus starting his ministry and people were unbelieving of him because "...no prophet is accepted in His own hometown."(John 4:24) and "Nazareth, can anything good come from there?" (John 1:46). Again I explained that it would be like Noah growing up to be a prophet for God -- someone who tells people the Word of God -- and his friends remember him just as the boy who always wanted to play with Hot Wheels. They might have a hard time hearing the Word from that boy. Well, Noah's response was, "It sure is a good thing I am learning about God now". Often he prays and thanks God that he is able to learn about Him. It is just such an encouragement to me to hear him say things like that!
So anyway, to get back to Tuesday...I had Bible Study that night and the section of Scripture that we read for this week, of course, contained the Sermon on the Mount and the theme continued and I have been thinking about it all week. The Beatitudes have always seemed to me to be unattainable and just some paradigm but my Mother-in-law (who hosts the Bible study) said it so well: It is a picture of what I am becoming in Christ. It is all about our character and conforming our character to Him. It really is simple in it's essence and Matthew 7:12 says it so well, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
