1st Question

I recently posed 3 questions for you to think on. 

1. Who are you following?
2. Who are you connecting with?
3. Who are you collecting?

Let's spend a little time looking at the first question.  Who are you following?  I asked you to think of your mentors and people you admire and look up to. Who came to mind?  Did your mind automatically go to women of the Bible such as Ruth and Esther?  Did you think of the leaders on your job, in your school, in your church?  The president, governor, television personalities?  According to Forbes magazine, Jennifer Lopez is the "World's Most Influential Celebrity".  Is she someone you're following, or perhaps others on the list, like Oprah, Ryan Seacrest or Lady Gaga. 

In the world of social media, following someone has various meanings. Of course if you are following my blog, you'll get updates of new posts. If I'm following someone on Twitter, I receive updates from that person or group. Perhaps it means that I'm interested in what they are doing. It can mean that I admire what they do, and I want to learn more about them.  However for this article, consider following as in following someone while they're walking or driving.  By following them, I am walking in their path, and doing what they do.

My life will mirror the life of who I am following.  My pattern of speech may change, my dress and attitude will also go through changes to be more like who I am following.  This can be a positive change or a negative one.  Following popular culture may have me dressing in low-cut tops, tight bottoms and not having a concern for how my actions affect those around me.  Following my neighbors may lead to a "keeping up with the Jones's" attitude.  My goals will revolve around making my home a show place, traveling to the "in" restaurants and vacation destinations.  If I find myself following current political leaders, I will begin to stop believing in the sanctity of marriage and the home, allowing humanistic views to influence my every choice.  However if I look to find a positive mentor and example to follow, my life will take a different course.

According to dictionary.com, a mentor is a wise or trusted adviser or guide.  A mentor can be someone we follow to learn from.  King Rehoboam had a great set of mentors in I Kings 12.  These elders had stood before his father, the wise King Solomon and provided good, sound advice (vs. 6).  However King Rehoboam chose to follow his peers, young men who had grown up with him.  We can look at others in the Bible as well as examples of good mentoring:  Barnabas and Paul, Paul and Timothy, Naomi and Ruth, Elijah and Elisha, Moses and Joshua, Deborah and Barak.  Older women are to be mentors for younger women in the local church (Titus 2).  The worthy woman of Proverbs 31 shows an ideal woman.

Do you have a good Christian to follow in your daily walk?  I have been blessed by godly Christian parents who gave me examples to follow.  There have been people along the way whom I can look up to, admire and follow as well.  Paul in I Corinthians 11:1 said "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ."  Again in Ephesians 5:1 "Therefore be imitators of God as dear children."  The one we are to ultimately follow is Christ. 

In my business, I have women who have been extremely successful, and if I follow their examples, I know that success can be mine as well.  In following godly women by modeling their love of their husbands and love of their children (Titus 2:4) I can grow more successful as a better wife and mother.  However, following Christ above all others will give me rewards above anything I could ever imagine (Ephesians 3:20).  Because I know that ultimate success is living my life and going to heaven following Christ is my highest priority. 

3 Questions

I just wanted to pose 3 quick questions.  I'll be exploring these in the next few weeks, someone posed them to me back in the month of March, and as a friend of mine says, I put them in my "hummmm box".  Something I've been contemplating for a while and every once in a while just say hum.

1. Who are you following? 
2. Who are you connecting with?
3. Who are you collecting?

For the first question, think of your mentors and people you admire and look up to.  These can be real in the flesh people, friends who have passed from this life, or even Bible characters.  I hope they're not celebrities and politicians.

Question two, think of your associates, your peers, those you spend the most time with.  Finally for the third question, who looks up to you, is watching you, admiring you?

Think on this, and I hope to have some further discussion soon.

Teach Your Children Well

The Crosby, Stills & Nash song begins by saying, “You who are on the road, must have a code that you can live by” and then in the chorus “Teach your children well”.  Here we have a hummable or singable reminder that, as parents on our journey to heaven, we are responsible for shaping our children’s minds.  Of course the Bible has already given us that instruction, “You shall teach them (these words) diligently to your children” Deut. 6:4-9.

As parents we have many things to teach our children, but most importantly we must teach them the Bible.  We begin when they are very young and build on simple truths and Bible stories laying the building blocks for a faith they must grow on their own.  A bonus to this at-home education is the church Bible school program.  It is here that children are exposed to someone other than their parents teaching the same truths, however the Bible school program cannot do it all.

In order to teach our children well, we must be aware of what they are being taught.  While there are many good literatures available, some contain denominational teachings or subtle references to unscriptural things.  If you’re not sure what literature is being used in your Bible classes, find out!  Ask to see a teacher’s manual & student work book and study it to make sure the truth is being taught.  The word of God does not need to be made into a watered-down comic book.  Children need to learn to read from the Bible and know that they can read the Bible. 

Mothers understand the reference to babies in 2 Peter 2:2 “as newborn babes, desire the milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.”  Babies thrive and grow on milk.  We can also understand that children cannot go from only milk to a T-bone steak, there are stages in between.  Likewise, children need to be taught the basics and then challenged as they grow.  If all we teach our children is Noah’s ark and the creation, when will they be ready to learn of Paul’s missionary journeys or the gospel or the conversion stories in Acts? 

Let's not sell our children short.  God has blessed us with amazing children who can learn His truths and can understand.  Remember with each day to teach your children well.