Today is Easter and I am in Sweden. It has been a time for Anette our oldest son, Eddie, and our two youngest daughters, Paulina and Nikole, to spend time together.
During this weekend I have hade a lot of thoughts about Yeshua and what that has meant for me. While my family is slowly understanding what being messianic means it has not been easy helping them to embrace The Way. They have a lot of questions and are often being bombarded with questions about the way in which we live our lives.
And as I listen to Rabbi Cohen’s message from March 6, 2010 from the Parashah Hukkat he makes a few points that seem very relevant. If you get a chance then check him out at http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/beth-el-manhattan-messianic/id261742853 it is titled Red Heifers and Unicorns. Now the actual torah portion is about the golden calf but on this day Rabbi Cohen decided to talk about the red heifer. He says that we don’t want our children to view our God as something that is mythical. No we want to pass on our faith to the next generation in such a way that our faith becomes their faith. And as they grow and start to ask questions then we want to give them better answers than, it is just so or that it has always been so.
While there are some things about our faith that are to be believed on faith alone, these items are not normative. More often than not, God gives us reasons and explanations about why he says what he says. Talking donkeys and burning bushes are not the normative ways in which God communicates. He guides us by reason, and example and explanation and this means that there are good reasons for why. Insanity is only appealing to the insane. I believe that, whenever it is possible, to try and understand the reasons why and at the same time accepting the things that are to be taken by faith.
There is a real danger that without good reasons our faith may seem to be built upon more of the unexplainable than the explainable. This makes the rules for life more suggestion than lifestyle. I know that I don’t want my children to see God as mythical instead of as real. I don’t just want to tell them the correct answer but to be able to explain reason why to them. I know that according to 1 Corinthians 2:14 spiritual things are not discerned by those who are not spiritual. I know that their friends may not understand why we have the rules that we have in our family. Many people think that it is strange that we eat in accordance with the rules of Leviticus 11
The reason for thinking this way is because while the, ashes of the red heifer becomes a vehicle of purification, whoever performs this becomes unclean. This is difficult to understand. God does not give us a lot of explanation and so many believe that this is something that just has to be taken on faith. But this may not be the normal way that God wants us to live.
God asks us to seek His truth and apply it to our life. We are to seek his way above the advice of our friends and family. This does not mean that friends and family are not important. Believe me they are. But when it is time to make a decision we will need the best help we can get. Family and friends can mean well but they might give advice which is contrary to God’s instruction and so knowing what the word says and why it says that is very important.
The instructions of God should be something that means more to us than our own desires. You see moral restraint is the choosing of life and not just ways to make life boring. In Deuteronomy 5:19 there is a challenge to choose life by living according to God’s instructions for life. Regardless of our age each and every one of us is faced daily with a whole host of choices. Each day presents us with choices so the question is what is going to help to make wise choices.
But how do we teach that modest dress, pleasant behaviour and the clear boundaries that God has established are the best and most correct way to live without making is seem like boring ritual and empty traditions?
How can I, or for that matter any parent, pass on the true meaning of a resurrection celebration or the deep meaning of Passover without undermining the strong foundation these truths are built upon?
We had a wonderful dinner yesterday, but we never mentioned Yeshua or talked about what he did. My in-laws are not believers and often think that things about the faith are not so interesting. We didn’t thank the Lord for the food before we ate. It was only late at night that we watched a film about Yeshua. Did that show my children that the things of our faith are not very important to me? I sure hope not.
I just want to make the resurrection real for my children and the young people at church.
peace
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