Tuesday, September 2, 2014 Gramps would have been 91 this week!
"You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These
words which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall
teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your
house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise
up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as
frontals on your foreheads. You shall write them on the doorposts of your
house and on your grates" (Deuternomy. 6:5-9)
Hey Gang: Read it again
and again and again. Our nation is going into the dumpster (2014-2024!)
because we have failed to instill Deuteronomy 6:5-9 into the hearts of our
children. Let me share a story that has been tucked away in my heart and
mind for more than fifty years.
Amos Zook, an Amish man was helping
little Amos to build a rabbit hutch. Little Amos was about to begin making a
contribution to the family by raising rabbits. His neighbor, a
local businessman, stood watching from his porch and sauntered over to see what
Amos and son were doing. When He saw they were building a rabbit hutch,
he said, “Hey, Amos, they sell those at the elevator in town and probably
cheaper than you can build them.”
Amos did not hesitate in his response
to the neighbor, “Well, we are in this for the long haul and the one at the
elevator is probably cheaper but will fall apart and require constant
attention, this one will last as long as little Amos wants to use it. But
that is not the bottom line, the reason for my helping little Amos build the
hutch - it gives me undivided time with him and teaches him something he can
use the rest of his life to earn a living. It is called learning a work
ethic.”
There was a story in the Washington
Post about a woman who wanted to have a house built. She asked her
friends for names of good trust-worthy contractors and one included the name of
a local Amish man. She drove to his home, he had no car or telephone, and
they discussed what she wanted included in her house.
After the discussion period was over
and it was time to seal the deal, she was amazed first with the price which was
less than half of the other builders, and secondly that there would be no
contract or written agreement but a mere handshake to seal the deal. The most
shocking thing was there would be a two-year lapse in time until he could build
her house. His work schedule was booked that far ahead.
Soooo, I have a request to make from
each of you. Turn with me to the last verses of the Old Covenant and read
these words with me "Behold I am going to send you Elijah, the
prophet before the coming of the great and terrible days of the Lord. He
will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the
children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a
curse." (Malachi 4:5-6). I ask you this morning - are
we not deserving of a curse from God?
One last point, in my many years of
working with children who were hurting inside, never, did I see an Amish child
in the treatment system. (Read and heed 2 Chronicles 7:14).
Blessings,
Gramps
No comments:
Post a Comment