Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Only for Children?

Some 40 years ago we had a company Christmas party at our home. I sat down at the piano and began playing Christmas carols. A couple of guests came over and said, "I remember those. We sang those songs when we were kids."

Last Sunday we sat around one of the tables at Adult Sunday School and discussed how we could become the persons God meant for us to be. Our table was a truly intergenerational table: 2 couples in their 80's, one couple probably late 60's and one couple in their 30's. The outline before us suggested that we could become what God meant us to be by knowing Him and His word. I suggested that we are never too old to memorize Scripture so we can use it to thwart Satan's attacks on our minds. I mentioned the 23rd Psalm which I presumed they all knew. I was astounded when they tried to piece together parts of it they had memorized as children - "He leads me beside still waters," "walk through the valley of the shadow of death," "anoints my head with oil." Finally they all agreed it ended with "I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

My question is what happens to these Christmas carols and memorized verses of Scripture when we are adults? Do we dismiss them with "When I was a child I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man I put childish ways behind me." (I Corinthians 13:11) Or do we hide them in our hearts (Psalm 119:11) so we can bring them out as treasures old and new (Matthew 13:52) to comfort and encourage our daily walk?
Insightfully yours,
Paulita