LESSON 29

Child's Love

11/16/05

YOU’RE THOUGHTS: How can we learn by observing children?

What does the phrase " Walk in love" mean?

MY THOUGHTS: Paul's intention in the first two verses of Ephesians five was to be simple and to the point. What caught my eye when I read these verses was two phrases, one in each verse. They are " as dear children" in verse one and " walk in love" in verse two. In this lesson I would like to expound on both these phrases.

We will start with the first phrase, " as dear children" Children especially when they are young are very observant and curious in all that we do as parents. They take in more then we sometimes want them to take in. That's how they learn. As a parent myself, I'm amazed at what traits my kids, now older, learned from me, some good and some unfortunately bad. I'll tell them to stop doing something and they will remind me that they got it from me. In the first verse of our theme scripture, Paul is showing us that in order for us to follow God we need to be observant and curious like children. We need to have an desire to imitate Jesus and all his teachings, also like children. I also might add that as an adult in order for us to be humble, we need to understand that we are a child to our heavenly father and as a child we are to be submissive to His discipline, be it a reward or a harsh correction. Like a father or mother He knows what's best for us.

In the second verse Paul advises that now that we know we must be like a child to be close to God. We must simply get on our feet and walk in the love that Christ demonstrated when he endured unimaginable pain on the cross for us.

He gave himself as the ultimate sacrifice to God because He loved us. Paul is suggesting that we must be able to understand the width and length and depth and height of his love ( Eph 3:18). We must allow Christ to dwell in us in such a way that we are rooted and grounded in His love, (Eph 3:17) in other words it becomes natural or automatic in our everyday lifestyle.

In the next three verses, we are given a list of habits or lifestyles that we must avoid or as Paul implied, "that it should not even be named among us". In verse four, Paul is suggesting we should replace foolish talking, or coarse jesting words to thanksgiving or praise to our God. Then in verse five, he reminds us that if we give in to the lifestyles that were listed we would not be able to enter into the Kingdom of Christ and God. I think that's cool the way he mentions Christ and then God. I believe when he mentions Christ first, he is referring to the fact that in order for us to enter the Kingdom of God we need to go through the Savior Himself, Jesus Christ. With that full commitment made we will definitely have the desire to avoid all that was listed above.

In conclusion, verse six and seven warns us that there are people out there that will deceive you with empty words. If we are rooted and grounded in Gods' love we will be aware of the deception and as verse seven suggests, we must not be partakers with them. We must be courteous and kind to them and remember them in our prayers. Remember, that if we want to be imitators of Christ we need to learn about Him and the best place for that lesson to be learned is in the inspired Word of God. The greatest fact that all of us need to be aware of is that God is our Heavenly Father and we are His children and each one of us are very special in his eyes. We are given many opportunities to grasp His nail scared hands and walk in His unconditional love. My prayer is for us to take full advantage of those opportunities and be prepared for our inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Walk in His love and you will not be partakers of sin and evil. Wake up every morning prepared to have a close and intimate relationship with our Savior and go to bed every night rest assured that all is well and sleep like a child. May God Bless you as you walk in His love. Amen.

Scripture Ref. ("As dear children") Mark 9:42, Matt.18:2,3,5, John 1:12 ("Walk in love" ( Love your neighbors ) Luke 10:29-37

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