Turning The Tide!

And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”— Hebrews 12:5 (NLT)

In order to receive the direction from God you must be able to receive the correction from God. As a professional stock-car racer, Darrell Waltrip was once proud of his image as “the guy folks loved to hate.” When crowds booed, he’d just kick the dirt and smile. Then things began to change. He miraculously survived a Daytona 500 crash. He began going to church with his wife, Stevie. He and Stevie began to try to have a family. Stevie, however, suffered four miscarriages.

One day their pastor came to visit. He asked, “Your car is sponsored by a beer company. Is that the image you want?” Darrell had never thought about it. He had always loved watching kids admire his car, but the more he thought about it, he discovered that he did care about his image. He thought, If Stevie’s and my prayers were answered for a child, what kind of dad would I be? He remembered his pastor’s admonition to “walk the walk, not just talk the talk.”

He didn’t know what to do to convince the car owner to change sponsors, but amazingly, an opportunity opened for him to sign with a new racing team sponsored by a laundry detergent company! After much thought and more prayer, he switched teams. Two years later, daughter Jessica was born, and a few years later, daughter Sarah. In 1989, he won Daytona.*

When Jesus gathered His new disciples together on the side of a mountain in Galilee, He taught them, among other things, a “Code of Conduct.” We call it the Sermon on the Mount. Included were His well-known admonitions and instructions as to how we are to act before others. “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:14-16 NLT).

Because we say we are Christians, the world is watching how we live out our lives. Do we follow the teachings of our Lord or imitate the culture? Yes, the world is watching—especially our kids, our grandkids (and in our case our great and great-great grandkids)! What do they see? Oh, God, I pray they see Jesus in me. Maranatha!