Family Guy – 18 March 2008
As Christians, sometimes we must make a stand for our faith, and protect our families and children, dispite the tide of political correctness, liberal media or Pop culture.
Sometimes we need to make the choice to remove the TV or remove our kids from state education or quit a job to save a marriage. As Johnny Cash say, sometimes we need to walk the line.
In his book, Marriage Under Fire, Doctor Dobson shares a powerful story that illistrates this beautifully.
Dr. John Corts, former president of the Billy Graham organisation said that when he was sixteen, he and his younger cousins went to visit his grandfather’s farm. They couldn’t wait to get there and go out into the fields. They wanted to throw out hay and ride on the tractor. It sounded like so much fun.
They whined and begged until their Grandfather finally said yes.
But he told John, “You are the eldest. You can take the kids out on the farm if you promise not to bring them back early. You must keep them out there until the end of the day.”
Pretty fast, the hot and sticky work made the kids miserable. They wanted to go back home.
But “No,” John said, “Granddad told me to keep you out here.”
By lunchtime the hay was getting under their shirts and even John thought home was a better place to be. But no, Granddad had said to stay for the whole day.
When they got home at the end of the day, Doctor Corts said that his Granddad praised them for the hard work they had done, and they quickly forgot how yucky the day was, and began to beam with pride.
Then the Grandfather explained - “This farm has been successful for one reason: We have stayed in the field when we felt like coming in. We did what needed to be done, even when we wanted to quit. I wanted you understand that same satisfaction.”
As James Dobson says, in Marriage Under Fire, God has called us to stay in the field till the end of the day, and I, for one, will do that as long as in have breath in my body. And I beg you to do the same. How can we remain silent when the next generation hangs in the balance?
You can get a copy of this, as well as help and resources for your family from our Online Resource Centre – Family.org.nz. I’ll catch you next week, with more from the Family Guy.
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