You will not always have me!
For the Christian faithful, Easter is one of our most sacred times of the year. The whole foundation of our faith rests upon the belief that Jesus, being the son of God, died and was resurrected. I wasn’t sure what message I could write about on this Easter Sunday that wouldn’t be covered in thousands of churches throughout our county today. So I did what any Christian would do, I prayed, opened my Bible, closed my eyes and let God lead me through his word. I landed on John Chapter 12, verses 1-11. Even after reading through the passage, I still was at a loss as to what it all meant and what he was wanting me to say. However, I zeroed in on Jesus‘s words in verse eight, “You will not always have me”.
This caught my eye because of a conversation that had taken place with a friend a few days ago. We were talking about how when we grew up here in Williamson County, being a Christian was the norm, the status quo. As teenagers in high school, having Christian morals and values was not questioned. We were never shunned for our beliefs, nor ridiculed. They were just accepted because most people around you believed the same things. However, we realized through this conversation that because we grew up with likeminded people, we never had to defend our faith. We grew lazy in our walk with the Lord. We never had to quote scripture to back up what we thought we so vehemently believed. I believe that’s why these words stuck out to me. “You will not always have me”.
We have reached the point in our community where our values and morals are being challenged. Our children in school are afraid to tell anyone about their Christian beliefs for fear of ridicule or retaliation from the “woke” culture that surrounds them. My question is, have we equipped our children with the armor they need to defend God? Have we taught them how to push back on topics being taught that violate their religious beliefs? We as parents can only do so much with regards to the curriculum and making sure that books are age-appropriate in our kids’ classrooms but where in the Bible does it teach us not to make our children warriors of God? Spoiler alert, it doesn’t!!
It is time that we stand up. It is time that we defend our faith. It is time we teach our children that the morals and values taught to us through the words of Jesus Christ are worth standing up for. Is this new for me? Yes! Is this taking me out of my comfort zone? Also yes! However, do I believe that if we don’t take a stand now it will be too late. Place the armor of God on your children every morning before sending them out into this world, teach them that they have a voice for God and it’s ok for them to use it. In fact, he demands that we use it. I fear if they don’t they will grow up in a world unlike their parents, knowing what it feels like not having Jesus with them.
Happy Easter from your local historian!
Mint Juliet