May. 7, 2007 - Training For LIfe
Training for Life by Seeking Answers through Scripture
Colossians 3:1-4, 16-17
“…Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. … Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through Him. “ (NIV)
What are you setting your mind on? I don’t know if you have observed this in your life as I have in mine; but I find it incredibly difficult to set my mind on things above. I have so many other important things that need concentrated on right now –like keeping up with my dishes and housework inspite physical difficulties, raising obedient and beautiful-inside children, and keeping my marriage alive inspite of Dan’s harried work schedule. Sometimes, just breathing has become a struggle. With all of this stress, how in the world am I supposed to set my mind on things above? I believe in my heart that one of the best ways to set your mind on Godly things is to fill your mind with scripture. This is brought out in vs. 16 of the scripture quoted; which says to “let the Word of God dwell in you richly.” The word "richly" jumps out of me. As Americans, we associate this word with money---lots of money. I think we can translate it here as lots of God’s Word dwelling in our hearts. This can only happen one way that I know of – we have to study the Scripture.
There are several ways to accomplish this. Those that come to most of our minds immediately are 1) daily personal Bible study, and 2) attending Sunday morning services. These are great ways to set our minds on things above, but they are not the only ways to injest rich amounts of Scripture into our souls. Other methods might include listening to an audio recording of the Bible on our way to and from church, attending midweek Bible studies at church or in a small group where accountability is encouraged, sharing time with our spouse studying God’s word, listening to valid Christian radio programs, or my personal favorite – teaching our children. It is amazing to what length you will go to understand a portion of God’s Word correctly when you realize you need to teach your child that specific portion.
In our home, the truth of this was revealed to us when Clara was 5 years old and attending a Bible study where baptism was not included in the method of salvation. She was specifically told that all she had to do was invite Jesus into her heart and she would be saved. Dan and I have a big problem with that. First of all, we believe Jesus is already with her; though not necessarily in her heart and we believe that salvation is already hers for now– since we believe that she has not reached an age of accountability yet. Secondly, we also believe that baptism is an integral part of the salvation experience. Thirdly, we recognize that most children cannot understand abstract concepts like baptism until at least 8 year of age; and we were concerned that Clara would consider herself already saved and never realize at an older age that baptism was supposed to be part of that experience. So, what does this have to do with studying the Scriptures? For almost three years before that day, Dan and I had been embarking on a thorough and intense study of baptism because we wanted to know exactly what we believed and why before our children were old enough to need to know! It took us three whole years to clarify exactly what we believe about baptism and salvation and why. We read and studied and sought wise counsel from other believers. Not only did we need to study and clarify this issue – God knew it a full three (million) years before we did!
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