Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. (1Pet 3:7)
Dene Ward
Flight Paths |
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Headship is not about getting to do whatever you want to do. It is about carefully considering the needs of the entire family and doing what is best for them, whether it is what you want to do or not.
Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. (1Pet 3:7) Dene Ward
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We just spent a week with the grandkids. When it comes to food, they are just like mine were at that age. They prefer their oranges out of a can, their macaroni and cheese out of the blue box, their chicken cut into processed squares, and their potatoes long and fried. Forget the complex and strong flavors of Parmagiana Reggiano, feta, and blue—they want American cheese, thank you. And all their sauces must be sweet—about half corn syrup. True, these two enjoy olives—but they need to be canned and black. A strong, briny kalamata is summarily thrown across the table.
Children have immature palates. For the most part strong flavors are out and bland ones are in. Sugar, salt and fat make up their favorite seasonings. And it must be easy to eat. When you can barely hold a spoon and get the food on it and into your mouth, you prefer things that are solid without being hard and which fit the hand. We would never give a child a fresh artichoke to eat, with instructions like “Peel off the leaf, dip it into lemon juice and melted butter, put it between your teeth and pull it out of your mouth, scraping the good part off as you pull, then discard the leaf.” One day they will understand the pleasure of different tastes and textures. Their palates will become educated to appreciate different foods and even different cuisines. Even the pickiest of childhood eaters usually learn as adults to eat new things, if for no other reason than to be polite or keep harmony in the home. When a woman spends hours a day cooking, she wants more than a grunt and food being shoved around the plate in an attempt to disguise the fact that very little of it was eaten. But sometimes people become set in their ways. They decide they don’t like something, even if they have never tried it. They won’t entertain the possibility that their palates have changed, and so won’t keep trying things as they become older. When I was a child I hated every kind of cheese, raw onions, and anything that contained a cooked tomato. Now I eat them all. Imagine if I had never found that out. No pizza! What about your spiritual nourishment? Are you still slurping down canned oranges and packaged mac and cheese? Do you still think instant mashed potatoes are as good as real ones, and Log Cabin as good as real maple syrup? What if the Bible class teacher taught a book you had never studied before? Would you learn with relish or complain because you actually had to read it instead of relying on your old canned knowledge? What if he showed you a different interpretation of a passage than you usually hear? Would you chew on it a little and really consider it, or just dismiss it out of hand because it wasn’t what you already thought you knew? Keith and I have both experienced complaints from people because our classes were “too deep” or “too hard” or “took too much study time.” Really? It’s one thing to have an immature palate because you are still a babe. It’s another to have one because you haven’t grown up in twenty, thirty, forty years of claiming discipleship. The spiritual palate can tell tales on our spiritual maturity in every other area. Jesus expected his disciples to mature in just a few short years. “Have I been with you so long and you still do not know me?” he asked Philip (John 14:9). If we don’t know his word, we don’t know him. If we don’t know him, we have no clue how to behave as Christians. An educated palate for spiritual food is far more important than whether you have learned to like liver yet. Become an adventurous spiritual eater. You will find this paradox: though you become hungrier for more, you are always satisfied with your meal. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:12-14. Dene Ward I barely remember it. It wasn't all that exciting so a toddler would hardly have sat down and watched it. The humor was sometimes wry and certainly not slapstick or as in-your-face as today's. Three couples competed in a series of questions. They were always interesting couples, I am told, with different areas of expertise. The emcee told them the category and the husband decided—before hearing the question itself—whether he would answer or his wife. Thus the name of the show, "Who Do You Trust?"
The original show debuted on January 3, 1956 with Edgar Bergen as host. It lasted barely a year. Then on September 30, 1957 the producers brought it back with Johnny Carson as host. Johnny's career was lagging seriously at the time, but the show and the way he handled it, spending more time on the interviews than the actual questions and keeping the live audience entertained, kept it on the air for another 6 years, until Jack Paar retired and the Tonight Show came calling. The rest, as they say, is history. Salvation is certainly not a game show. The prizes at stake are far more than the $25, $50, and $75 for three questions. But the question of "Who do you trust?" is still relevant. I grew up in a time when we were regularly told from pulpits all over the country that we should never say that we knew we were saved, we certainly shouldn't talk about Heaven as something we had a real expectation of. "You can lose it any time," was the doctrine we were taught, and while that is certainly true, we were taught it so constantly and vigorously that we spent our lives looking over our shoulders wondering when death would strike, hoping we would have enough warning to throw up a quick prayer for forgiveness. Otherwise, we were sure, all was lost—especially us. And what has this done? It has created a generation without hope, one that lives in constant fear, one that doesn't trust God to save them. We have done a fine job of aiding Satan in discouraging the saved to the point that they are indeed no longer saved. They were told it was impossible and they believed it, and so they quit trying. Or if, somehow, they are still out their knocking themselves out trying, uttering prayers for forgiveness every hour or so, their lives are not full of joy, they are full of insecurity and foreboding, afraid they might come across as arrogant enough to actually believe they have a chance. Would a God of love want us to live that way? What do you think he feels when we talk about him like he is up there watching, just waiting to say, "Aha! Gotcha!" and then zap us when we aren't looking? I would be insulted if my children thought I would do that to them! Why do we think it is "reverent" to think that of God? We have completely forgotten grace. Grace is not only about your initial salvation. Grace is there all your life. God never expected any of us to know all the facts, understand all the doctrines, and have all our character flaws worked out the moment we were baptized. We keep working on those things, sometimes struggling harder at one thing than another, looking at ourselves honestly and learning as much as we can about God and His Word, repenting when we find it necessary, and grace covers what we haven't yet reached. God said he would do that. He said he loves us and wants us to go to Heaven. He gave up his Son so that could happen? Don't you trust God? …for they cried out to God in the battle, and he granted their urgent plea because they trusted in him. (1Chr 5:20) Won't God answer your plea to cover your errors if you trust him? If you don't believe that, then you don't trust him. When we don't trust God's grace, just what is it we really trust? Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. (Ps 20:7) The chariots we trust in are works. We keep thinking we have to be perfect and we must get that way now! Nonsense. Look how Jesus carefully brought Peter along. Look how God dealt with Gideon as he gradually built his courage and faith. He does that for all of us. But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” (Ps 31:14) Trusting God is a requirement for being his child. No trust means no relationship with the Father. And here is the bottom line: Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; his anger rose against Israel, because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power. (Ps 78:21-22) When we don't trust in God's grace, we are trusting a doctrine of the Devil, a doctrine he puts out there through his own ministers to destroy our faith, our spirit, and our relationship with God. Don't let anyone steal your trust in God and his power to save even the vilest sinner—even you. "Who Do You Trust" is not a game show—it is your life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. (1John 5:13) |
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Dene Ward has taught the Bible for more than forty years, spoken at women’s retreats and lectureships, and has written both devotional books and class materials. She lives in Lake Butler, Florida, with her husband Keith. Categories
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May 2024
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