Reflections

Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9

I was waking my son up to go to his grandmother’s this morning. It was amazing to see the reaction he had when I tried to shake him out of his dreams. I thought I was waking his mother up. It is amazing to see the similarities in looks, expressions and personality between a child and a parent. In our household, we know that all the bad traits he gets from his mother, and all the good ones from me!?!
We spend our formative years trying to imitate those that have the most influence in our lives. For a child, that is usually a parent. As we get a little older, it may be a teacher or aunt or uncle. Irregardless of who we are trying to pattern our lives after, we are trying to do so. Think back over your life, and try to identify those that have influenced the way you think, act or express yourself. The biggest influence in my life, looking, back, is a man by the name of David Norris. Presently, he teaches at the Urshan Graduate School of Theology in St. Louis. For me, it started when I was the ring bearer in his wedding. I left St.Paul, MN and traveled to Dover, DE mostly because he was the main instructor. Since then, I have found myself trying to respond to crisis the way I saw him and his wife respond. I know the pattern in the way I teach is from him. I especially know this because my wife gets equally frustrated with me as she did with him in Bible College. We tend not to give too many answers, but allow the student to find the answer. I got that from him.
Having said all of that, I would remind you that somewhere, someone is watching you. They are trying to pattern their life after you. Are you providing an appropriate example? Are they seeing Jesus Christ in your life? I do not mean to put pressure on someone, but if you’re honest with yourself, you looked at someone in your life, and now it is your turn to allow someone to look at your life.
When someone sees your expression, are they seeing your natural or spiritual parents? When you look at the next generation, are they seeing you in their expression? The Hebrews understood the need for examples, and that is what we read in the passage today. Remember, if the young people and children cannot look to you as examples, they will find someone else to follow.

“Children need models rather than critics.”
- Joseph Joubert