From the President – The importance of being a child of God

By: Paul Zabel

“Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
(Proverbs 22:6)

Rev. Paul Zabel

Now that the new school year has begun and children are once again attending classes, notices are appearing, it seems, just about everywhere, for motorists to be especially on the lookout for children on their way to and from school. Safety messages are included on a regular basis in television commercials, on billboards, and even on electronic messaging boards on major thoroughfares and freeways. However, no matter how thoroughly parents, grand-parents, friends, and loved ones do everything within their power to ensure the safety of their little ones, there are tragedies and accidents that still occur.

I’ve vacationed in Florida on a number of occasions and seen alligators suddenly appear on golf courses, along the side of the road, and next to very small ponds as well as larger bodies of water. On that basis, one must assume that in many places in Florida, alligators may be present in the most unlikely places. Such, apparently was the case when a two-year-old boy was dragged into the water on the night of June 14, 2016 by an alligator near Disney’s upscale Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. In this incident, there was perhaps nothing that could have been foreseen regarding the tragedy that took place. In other tragedies, however, warnings and precautions go unheeded resulting in sometimes dire consequences. How many times, for example, do people climb over barriers in zoos and in game preserves and end up with severe injuries—or even worse, killed? All because they went beyond the limits of safety.

Such tragedies also occur to many in a spiritual sense, as well. For a while, everything goes well. We live without restraints and inhibitions. We begin taking chances. Perhaps we go beyond the limits of safety. Tragedy results.

There are certain disciplines that must be followed if life is to be saved and secured. The engine must stay on two narrow ribbons of steel if the train is to reach its destination safely. In like manner, we must stay focused and on the right track in believing and trusting in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour from sin, if heaven is to be our goal.

Our hearts go out to the parents of the little boy who saw their loved one snatched away by death. But there is greater tragedy than that. Think of the parents who live idly on, unconcerned about the spiritual death which can come to their children, if they are not nurtured and taught the way that they should go.

What blessings result when parents give their children the inspiration of knowing God as a real friend, so that they acquire true spiritual understanding! Consider the little girl, for example, who early in the morning, on the day when her sister was to be baptized, was found standing by her sister’s little cradle singing, “Happy birthday, dear Jenny.” She had caught the significance of what it means to be a child of God!

Rev. Paul Zabel