No Small Thing

Oh, man. I feel like such a slacker. My last blog post was back in the doldrums of February. What have I been doing to neglect blogging for so long? There is no good excuse, except that the self-imposed pressure to be interesting and relevant sometimes makes me shy away from writing. I don't want to bore my readers with mundane details of school life, unless that is what you are all really interested in reading. I don't want my blog to be a journal or a diary, but something thoughtful and insightful. Let's see if I can produce something along those lines here today...

The other day I was part of a discussion the included veteran elementary teachers. It was interesting to hear one of them say that she had noticed a change in her students over the past 10 or so years, in that some young children seem to have less of what the Bible calls childlike faith. When asked why this might be true, other teachers talked about how their students are worried about things like the possibility of nuclear war, terrorism, and other problems facing our world. Teachers remarked that even young children are more skeptical, less willing to believe what they are hearing in Bible class. As Christian educators, this can be a bit disheartening and a challenge.

More than ever, I see that in these last days there is a concerted effort by the enemy to come as a robber, a thief, to steal, to kill, and to destroy (John 10). He wants to steal joy, to kill innocence, and to destroy childlike faith. In reference to the End Times, Jesus himself asked the question, "Will he (the Son of Man) find faith on the earth?"

The church, the godly home, the Christian school - praise God that these three, working together in concert, give our children a fighting chance to be rooted and grounded in the love of God and our faith and to live as shining lights and victorious believers in this dark world that is reflection of the human heart - desperately wicked. I view one of the most important times in my week as when I get to be with the elementary students in chapel. I never in a million years thought that I would ever find myself playing the fool in skits to share biblical truth with children, but God thought otherwise, praise His name! I know that you, as parents and teachers must treasure those precious moments when you can speak about the things of God with young people.

I want to be a good shepherd of the flock when it is under my care, and I know every teacher and administrator in this school thinks and feels the same way. I don't want the sheep responding to any other voice than that of the Great Shepherd of our souls. I want them to recognize the still small voice of the Spirit and to follow only Him in their daily walks, not straying into the broad way that leads to destruction. I want our children to experience the joy of their salvation, to be innocent as spotless lambs, and to have the childlike faith that cries out, "Yes!" as it embraces Truth, and moves mountains in prayer. Oh, I want our children to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved!

I thank God for our school and for the parents who value Christian education for their children and sacrifice for them to be here. And I thank God for this church that is committed to providing Christian education to families in its congregations and other congregations in the area. It is no small thing we are doing here...