In the letter Paul wrote to the Roman Christians, he said, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” How many of you, when you were growing up, had special “go to Sunday School and church” clothes? You would get dressed on Sunday morning and wait til it was time to go to church, and you had better not go outside and get dirty while waiting. And then you changed out of those into your “play clothes” as soon as you got home. You need to wear your “Sunday best” or at least the best you had. And of course, you had to put on “good behavior”, too.
Haven’t you been “hushed in church?” And if you squirmed too much, or “cut up”, my boys said their mother could pinch them from halfway across church. And of course, there was marking or coloring in balletins, and sometimes (or often) snuggling against mother or between parents for a mid-sermon nap, there may be some of that now, too.
But we were supposed to be at our best: best clothes, best manners, best attitude -- and in the midst of all that, hopefully, we were learning that Jesus loves me, this I know - REALLY - we don’t have to be afraid of God - Jesus is our friend and Savior! We come to a real “realization” that He came and died on the cross for me. John 3:16 became more than a Sunday School or Bible School memory verse. And along the way, we came to LOVE HIM, too. The Bible School song, “Everyone ought to love Jesus” became a reality. And the Bible, the Holy Scripture, became real, too. Not just “Bible Stories”: Moses rescued in a basket by Pharoah’s daughter; Samson, David and Goliath, Baby Jesus in a manger, Jesus (and even Peter) walking on water; Jesus hanging on that terrible cross! And Easter, we always loved Easter, even when at first it was just eggs and Easter baskets. But we learned to love to sing, “up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph over His foes -- He arose!” “He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today - He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way. Yes, He Lives, How does that song end? “He lives within my heart.” He does! And I hope He ...
