Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
A new “Adult Sabbath School Study Guide” lesson quarterly for our second quarter titled “Family Seasons”, with our first week’s lesson titled “The Rhythms of Life”. If you knew Jesus was returning in 3 months and this was the last Sabbath School Study we would have, what would be your choice of topic? As I thought of all the subjects we could study, I realized that this quarter’s topic may be as good as it gets. To study about families and relationships. Here on earth and the one to come in heaven. Perhaps this is the right one for the right time.
As we study about families, we realize how much stability and security play a part in each human’s life. We thrive on security and stability… and it was God-designed to be this way in the beginning of creation. But as each of us know, our lives here on this sinful earth are anything but stable and secure. And so we all can be in a state of perpetual anxiety and stress. Which can color our every action and inter-action. Oh, how we strive for security! Oh, how we strive to create Heaven on earth. Yet it is only our human attempt to be God, just like our human attempts to keep the law. Each, an impossible action. Even from a pure motive, our effort is doomed to fail. For Heaven is not so much a place as it is a person.
It’s like “home”. Home is not a house. Home is really not a place, either. Home is people. The people who love us and whom we love. In their presence, we are “home”. And so with Heaven… and so with stability and security, too. It is not found in secure situations or stable environments. Stability, security and Heaven, too, are found only in God. And in Him, we are secure, stable, and Heaven begins here and now.
Please remember this. As we study about family, it could be depressing for some. For those who have lived any length of time, the loss of many loved-ones is a reality. It can make us feel truly alone and adrift. This quarter’s study of “Families”, to those who have lost their tangible “family”, can make it a heart-rending study. One to avoid. Or to those who had a devastating family life. Who were abused or neglected. The study can be so very troubling. But the study is not meant to discourage and depress but to encourage and uplift. And it can be, if we realize that God is our only true “home” and our only true “family”. And our study is meant to have us see Him in our lives. To see that He is our true Father and our true Family. That we were created for relationship with Him. Him who will never leave, never disappoint. Him who only loves us. Him who is our everlasting stability and eternal security. And once we really see this and make it real in our lives, then everything changes for us. Everyone is our brother and sister. And the earth’s inhabitants constitute one big family. How blessed!
May our study enrich each of us, is my prayer for us all.
With brotherly love,