Today’s Reading: Matthew Chapter 7
Spending time with my children has always been a blessing to me. During the earlier years of their lives I had to work long days and did not have the privilege to spend significant quality time with them. During the last several weekends, Oliver and I have been able to have some meaningful and important Father-Son time.
In April, we moved to a new house and now we have the chance to make special projects in the yard and the garage. A couple of weeks ago, Oliver and I were able to clear some brush from around the backyard and we were able to fix the roof of our storage shed. A couple of days ago, while I started work on restoring some tools, he came and assisted me. The tools that we had to clean and restore were some axes and some hedge trimmers. It was really fun and awesome to share some of my hands-on knowledge with him. He learned how to brush off the rust from the metal, then file and sharpen the edge of the tools, then how to oil and keep the tools ready for use.
This has been something that I have looked forward to for a while: true bonding time with my son. This is something that cannot be replaced with books, the Internet, or podcast. This is time that is spent in the warm summer air under the Cedar tree in our backyard. These are memories that he and I will remember. There are memories that I have with my father, uncles, father-in-law, and grandfather (Jillian’s Grandfather) that have had profound impact and memories that have shaped me to be the man I am today.
In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus is concluding his Sermon on the Mount. This is intimate time that Jesus is spending with his followers and I can only imagine the awesomeness of the scene and the words that he used. The topics that we have are:
- Jesus teaches about Judging Others
- Jesus teaches about Asking, Seeking, and Knocking
- Jesus teaches about the Way to Heaven
- Jesus teaches about Fruit in People’s Lives
- Jesus teaches about building on a Solid Foundation
These topics all are relevant to today’s society and our walk with Christ, but one thing that stands out is what is your relationship with Christ and how do we increase the bond of this relationship. There are two basic types of relationship that you can have with God through Christ. First type is one that is only reading the Word and seeing the world through the Word. The second type is living the Word that you have read and bringing the Word to life in the world. This is theory versus practice model. This can be seen in these above topics.
- When we are in a true relationship with Christ and living out the love of Christ, we will be more likely to acknowledge our own areas of improvement and ask others to assist us to make each other better.
- When we are in true relationship with Christ we will be confident and know that the good things that the Father have for us will be given if we show up and ask.
- We know that the when in true relationship with Christ we will bear fruit that is like him. Fruit that will support each other and care for others. There may be “good” people that do “ good” things, but the true faith and relationship with Christ is what holds true.
- As stated in the commentary of the solid foundation “ Many people do not deliberately build on a false or inferior foundation; they don’t think about their life’s purpose. It is the responsibility of the body of Christ to help others to reassess and support each other in our lives.”
The main theme is relationship matters. During the past several years, the lives of my family and I have changed many times over. My relationship with each of them has grown and molded into a beautiful picture. I have been able to spend more time with them: I am able to drop off the kids at school; we eat dinner together; I read and pray with them at bedtime; and I able to be there in many of the precious times. This time that I have been blessed to spend with them has created this relationship that I cherish. Some of the things that I have done with Christ to increase our relationship is: serve when there is a need; help others that cannot repay me; love when you have been hurt; smile when there seems to be all hope is gone. I am continually seeking a relationship with God, through Christ, with the presence of the Holy Spirit. Similarly, like the time that Oliver and I have enjoyed with each other, I seek to spend quality time with Christ daily. My relationship is far from perfect and I will continually strive to grow in all my relationships daily.
Dear God, please allow me to know you more today than yesterday, and tomorrow more than today. Amen.