For the Children Too

I have never noticed this before, but it was in front of my face the entire time. In Ephesians 6:1 Paul says, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." Did you catch that? This verse assumes that the children were among the rest of the congregation when the letter was being read. Not only does it assume that they were present, but that they were listening. This is astounding in our culture where most don't expect children to be able to sit down and listen for more than 5 minutes. Yet, apparently, Paul fully expected that the children would be listening to the entire letter; so, he addresses them also. He isn't talking about children, he is talking to children. (this also occurs in Colossians 3:20)

Remember, Ephesians (and neither is Colossians) is not a lightweight book and I doubt they used puppets to read it to the children. Nor did they take a break from reading the epistle, call the children down front, and do an object lesson. It is sad how far our church culture has strayed from the historic church and its expectations for children. They were expected to know by heart lengthy catechisms and, in the early church, to listen to the entirety of Paul's letters. It is time the American church raises the bar in its expectations for children and their knowledge of the Word of God.

Your Sandal Has Not Worn Out

I was recently watching The Making of the Ten Commandments. In that show the director stated that they wanted the clothing to be as accurate as possible. They even had the native artisans in Morocco, where the movie was filmed, make by hand many of the costumes. They also handmade the sandals that the cast wore, including the 800 extras (who were supposed to represent over 1,000,000 Israelites).

The costume director recounted how they destroyed over 1,000 shoes for the 800 extras. When I heard that I immediately thought of what Moses said in Deuteronomy 29:5:

"And I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot."

I don't know how long it took them to shoot this movie, but it was nowhere in the neighborhood of 40 years! Imagine, after all, having the same pair of shoes for forty years and never having to replace them. This should cause us to praise our powerful God. Even in something as mundane as sandals He shows Himself to be majestic.