| “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.” |
| —Deuteronomy 6:6 |
The most fortunate children are those who grow up in a God-honoring home. If the people who raise a child love God and put Him first in their lives, then that child has truly gained the best possible advantage he or she can have in this life.
I was one such child. Conceived as the result of an illicit love affair between a pastor and a church organist, my birth mother very wisely placed me for adoption. I can only imagine the deep emotional price she paid in doing so.
In God’s providence, a loving older couple—she was 42 and he was 40—adopted me. Their most important quality was that they loved God and taught me to do the same.
I grew up in a wonderful church family where the good news about Jesus was preached every Sunday. I had godly Sunday School teachers and godly Youth Fellowship and Youth for Christ leaders who lived out their faith in Christ and taught me to do the same.
I attended one of the finest and most academically rigorous Christian colleges in the land. My professors not only were recognized experts in their fields, they taught in ways that integrated their faith in Christ with their academic subjects.
In every case, all through my early life, I have had the distinct privilege of being exposed to people who took their roles of spiritual mentors seriously. Each one of these very special people took to heart God’s instruction recorded in Deuteronomy 6:6-7:
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
While God did not choose to bless my wife and me with children, nevertheless, I have tried to be a mentor to young people and follow in the footsteps of those who mentored me.
I begin this new day praising God and thanking Him for those who made a serious effort to teach me God’s commands. If you belong to God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, I urge you to take every opportunity to teach the young people who cross your pathway about God’s mercy, grace, and unfailing love.
Based on a blog originally posted on Friday, February 12, 2016
