Prayer is the way we communicate to God, and how we express ourselves in prayer is personal and individual. But the content Jesus included when He instructed His disciples, “this is how you should pray” (Matthew 6:9-13), provides a model which may be helpful to you as a family.
As the days progress toward the season in which we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus, I have found myself reflecting on the central, amazing truth that God became a man. I recognize that the Incarnation is beyond my comprehension, yet I have also experienced marvelous encouragement through meditating on it. Perhaps what has encouraged me most is a truth given to us in Hebrews 4: in Jesus, we have a high priest who can sympathize with us in our weaknesses, because He was tempted in every way that we are – “yet was without sin.”
Do you have a brother eating with the pigs? Have you hesitated to go to him? Have you judged him deserving of what he is bringing on himself? In the words of Paul from Romans 2:4, “Do you disregard the riches of God’s kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that His kindness leads to repentance?” Consider today how you might be an instrument of God’s kindness to that brother.
There is an old German proverb that says, “The main thing is that the main thing is always the main thing.” Let me suggest that this bit of sage advice reflects a spiritual truth. No matter what circumstances change; no matter what we feel or think; no matter what corrupt values pervade our culture; no matter what temptations attack us; God is Sovereign, and we exist for His glory, and He is at work in all things for the good of those who love Him to conform us to the likeness of His Son. The proverb expresses a spiritual reality in mundane language. Over my years as a Bible teacher, I have found it to be of some value to rephrase this old proverb to suggest a spiritual strategy: The main thing is to let the main thing be the main thing.
Marriage as a picture of Christ and the Church has been symbolized in the Christian wedding ceremony for generations. But, through the years, the emphasis in the ceremony has shifted to a greater and nearly exclusive focus upon the bride and her arrival. The entrance and activities of the groom, who should draw our attention to Christ, are seen as almost insignificant. But they are not.
Psalm 34:8 reads, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.” If we take refuge in the Lord the way that He has instructed us to do, we will taste and see that He is good. If we do not take refuge in Him as He has instructed, He will still be good, and we may even believe that He is good - that is, the truth that God is good may be part of our “belief system” - but we will not “taste and see” it. What He wants for us is to taste and see His goodness.
Imagine yourself in the place of two of John the Baptist’s disciples. Jesus has been revealed to you as the Son of God, and you have set out to follow Him not knowing exactly what to do or what the result might be. In your mind’s eye, picture Jesus turning around. It takes you a moment to look Him full in the face, but when His gaze has caught your eye, you can’t look away. Then He asks, “What do you want?”
