Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, dear ones

Beautiful sunshine fills the scene before me. No jog this morning. There are some irregularities in the morning. Becki and Thano are off on a run to pick up Thano’s little boys way out in Hillsboro.

Since Becki is away, I send this composition with a little more insecurity than normal. She has not had a chance to read and critique it. However, we did talk earlier about some of the concepts contained in it.

The list is long. It seems to be getting longer. I won’t try to read it to you. I wouldn’t want to scare you.

All we can do is what we can do. Let’s go do it.

Love, Dad/Ray.

The first two verses of this reading send me into a kind of philosophical depression. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I think I’m supposed to be depressed over the reality of the human condition apart from God—apart from a HEART AFTER GOD. After all, how prepared can we be to get it right if we think we can successfully get it right independent of our Sovereign? Isn’t that the core notion that confirms the core problem? The validity of God’s diagnosis of the human condition as described in Jeremiah 17:9 is confirmed and reconfirmed over and over—demonstrating countless times how the deceitfulness of unregenerate human hearts deceives people into embracing that futile notion—that they can seek and find solutions without seeking God. Please agree—THAT NOTION IS A BIG FAT LIE!

How do we figure this out? How do we comprehend the why and wherefore of good parents having rotten kids?—and rotten parents having good kids? Aren’t these questions unavoidable in processing this historical record. Let’s review and consider a very short piece of geneological chain before us as represented by kings of Judah. Jotham, a good king, was replaced by his son Ahaz, a rotten king, who was replaced by his son Hezekiah, a good king, who was replaced by his son Manasseh, a rotten king, though he yielded to a profound “foxhole conversion” while a prisoner in Babylon (They “put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles,” 33:11.), who was replaced by his son Amon, a rotten king, who was replaced by his son Josiah, a good king. Whew! Is the matter of participating in procreation on a par with flipping a coin?—like “win some, lose some?”—some kids come out good, some come out rotten, and some a crazy mixture?

I will not presume to draw a perfect conclusion. I’m too aware of my own imperfectness. All I know is that this Biblical record brings powerful real-life support to the words of Jesus when He said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). In other words, the passage way to true success as determined by the One Who matters is SINGLE FILE. It’s not realized in terms of families or groups. It calls for personal care, personal diligence, and a personal HEART AFTER GOD. Everyone must choose for himself whom he will serve. While we can never force our children to choose the right course, we should never be negligent to provide them with the best reason for doing so. It’s not just by proclaiming Biblical truth, but by demonstrating it—by personally demonstrating the reality and benefits of a HEART AFTER GOD.