Reflections from February 23, 2010

Paul boldly faces the Roman judicial system in Acts 23:14 where he says, "...I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets."

It's probably a good assumption that many of us would be scared out of our skin if we had to face a judge because of being wrongly accused. But Paul had two things going for him; (1) his comfort and knowledge with the Roman judicial system and (2) his faith and knowledge of God and Christ. These two factors caused Paul to speak plainly, clearly and boldly to Felix and defend himself and the Christian movement to Felix, the Governor. But, Paul had immersed himself in the writings of Christ and had the power of the Holy Spirit as well.

By immersing ourselves in scripture and prayer, and working to increase our knowledge of God's will in our lives, we'll be able to boldly stand before anyone as well to proclaim "I worship the God of my fathers!"

Today from Proverbs 23:24 we read, "The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who begets a wise child will delight in him."

To those of us who are fathers, doesn't the smallest accomplishment of your child bring happiness to your life? Your chest gets a bit larger, you smile and inside you have a wonderful feeling of contentment about your life and how happy you are that this person is your child. For those who have adult children, you can look through their life and see how God has placed series upon series of accomplishments and see how things tie together to bring the child to their current place in life. I think we are most happy when we see our children use their knowledge and make good decisions in their life, whether it's about school, career, marriage, or anything else. Their wisdom brings delight to us. That's what Solomon is talking about. He knew that to have this joy in our later years from our children, we'll have to work at making sure they understand what is required to become good, decent, contributing adults. Solomon's wisdom helps so much in this day and age.

Blessings to all