God, Commitment and Family

It is a privilege for me to be here to speak to all of you on this Day of Family Day. And it's... isn't it neat how God works out rain? It comes and what it needs to come, and it looks like it's going to clear off, and we're going to be able to do our picnic just fine. That's great. It is a blessing to gather together here at the Feast of Tabernacles in Branson to worship God and to be learning from His Scriptures. God's feasts reveal that God is, and has always been, committed to offering every human being a full opportunity to receiving salvation, eternal life, as His sons and daughters, and His defying family. That's what the Holy Days put them all together, and that's what it's pointing out. God has been committed to humanity's salvation since before time ever began. That's hard to wrap my mind around that, and maybe you too. Let's look at 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9 through 10. Just, again, looking at Scripture to see the veracity of what God is saying, what I'm just saying. 1 Timothy... or excuse me, 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9 through 10, referring to God, God the Father and the Word, who became Jesus Christ planned before the creation for the universe, for all those billions of stars were getting ever better pictures of or ever made, and then Christ willingly died in our place to pay for our penalty for sin. 2 Timothy 1 verse 9, referring to God, God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. But that has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And let's also look at 1 Timothy 2.4. We're in the neighborhood 1 Timothy 2.4, where we read that well-known Scripture, and it should be deeply etched in our hearts and minds, again referring to God, who desires all men, every human being ever, to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. And he has called us, and we're here today, and we're learning more and more about God's truth. Truly, we have great reason to praise the Lord and to dance a little bit like these children were doing just a little bit when you really think about it. God is wonderful and just. He is committed to giving every human being that full opportunity to choose salvation. It is a choice, and God will do so. Some prior to Christ's return, and then the vast majority, as Scripture tells us, after his return. And then God requires that those who commit to him stay committed to him. Those who commit to him must stay committed to him. Keeping God's feasts is just one way that we demonstrate our commitment to God. And we also should demonstrate our commitment to God through keeping His commandments, repenting of sin, following Christ's example of laying down our lives for others. Now, these are acts of faith, and they do demonstrate our commitment to God in His way. Baptism is one of the most important demonstrations of our own personal commitment to God. Baptism symbolizes both our acceptance of our Father's calling, or we could call it an invitation to salvation. And baptism also symbolizes our commitment to submit ourselves willingly to Him, totally through faith in Christ Jesus' sacrifice for our sins. God is committed to giving us salvation, eternal life in His kingdom and in His family. And our commitment to be faithful, to believe God and do what He says must endure to the end whenever our end shall be. God's desire is that we receive immortality at Christ's return and attend the marriage supper of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

And we will do so when we do our part to remain faithfully committed to God. Now today, we'll consider God's instruction from the Bible to help us strengthen our commitment to God as individuals and within our families, so that we all will be able to enter the kingdom of God. The title of the sermon is God, Commitment, and Family. God, Commitment, and Family.

Now, as I said, as we know, God keeps His commitment. He keeps His commitment to us because He is faithful. It's just the way God is. And God wants us to be faithful, to be just like Him and keeping our commitment to Him. That's a message we can learn from the parable of the Great Supper. We're going to be spending some time now in Luke chapter 14 verse 16 through 24. So if you turn there with me, Luke 14 verse 16 through 24, and the publisher of my Bible put a nice little ribbon there. I'm going to put it there, and you can put a ribbon or bookmark in that spot, too. Luke 14. And we're going to read the first two verses of Luke 14, this parable, often called parable, of the Great Supper. Luke 14 verse 16, and then He, referring to Jesus, and then He, Jesus said to them, said to him, A certain man gave a great Supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time, that evening meal, to say to those who are invited, Come, for all things are now ready. All things are now ready.

Now I'm going to pause. I tend to ask a lot of questions. I like to make us think.

Now, what might this Great Supper be? Luke doesn't exactly tell us in his account. What might this Great Supper be? And who might this certain man be?

Those listening to Jesus Christ would have been very familiar with the custom of a marriage supper. It's a little bit different for us in our culture and time than it was 2000 years and even more ago.

Christ's audience at that time wouldn't have been familiar with the customs associated with Great Suppers, but we're not. So what's happening here? Well, in his book, Eastern Customs and Bible Lands, it's written in 1894 by Henry Tristram, he explains that this supper would have been a public gathering, a public gathering, an elaborate evening feast which would have been, quote, rarely given, accepting on some special occasion. Now notice these special occasions, what they may have been. Rarely given, accepting on some special occasion, such as a marriage, or the birth of a son, or on the conclusion of the harvest of the vintage, the great harvest. Of course, that is in late summer, early fall, unquote. Now all three occasions definitely have symbolic meaning biblically, don't they? But scholars agree that this Great Supper is a marriage supper. That he's referring, Jesus is referring to a marriage supper. And of course, we can go to Scripture and we can agree with that. The parable in Luke is so much similar to Christ's parable in Matthew 22, and I'm just going to turn there real quick, and you may turn there with me if you like. Just going to read a couple Scriptures. Matthew 22, verse 2 through 3. Luke's parable is similar to Matthew's account. Matthew's account, a king invited guests to the marriage supper of his son. And we read that, Matthew 22, 2 through 3. The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, Jesus said, who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding. And they were not willing to come. That's the part we're going to read here in Luke in just a little bit. Now, in addition, if you turn back with me to Revelation 19 now, in addition, both parables are directly related to Revelation 19, verse 7 through 9. Revelation 19, verse 7 through 9. This is the description of the marriage of the Lamb. So let's read that. Revelation 19, 7 through 9. It states, Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And then he said to me, Right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God. Now, let's go back to Luke 14. Let's go back to Luke 14. And so, what we can understand now is that this certain man in Luke 14, 16 would represent God. He represents God. And the Great Supper is the future marriage supper of the Lamb. And so, the parable of the Great Supper has to do with receiving the kingdom of God and salvation. Receiving the kingdom of God and salvation.

Now, the ancient customs related to the marriage supper placed specific obligations upon the host of the supper and upon his invited guest. The New Testament study Bible states that, quote, it was the custom to give a first invitation to the banquet, and then, and then when the food was ready to send out a second call, unquote. And so, the sermon came twice, the first time to give the invitation and the second time sometime later to tell them it's time to come. Now, why give an invitation and then later a summons to come?

The Bible doesn't say it this way, but it's because there were no microwave ovens and things of that nature, okay? It's because it would take many days, possibly. Good day, sometimes accounts read several days. For all the preparations for such an elaborate meal, an elaborate public meal, it's a lot of food, to be prepared, to be completed. And so, the guest never knew exactly when that summons to come to the supper would arrive. And that's why the servant had to be sent a second time, to let them know, now we're ready, the host, the master, says it's time to come.

Now, the need for the guest to be ready to come at any time may remind us of Jesus' warning and Mark 13, 32, 33. I'll read it for you. Mark 13, 32, 33, regarding the time of his prophesied return. Mark said, quoting Jesus, but of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, Jesus said, watch and pray, for you do not know when the time is. And so, the guest, according to that ancient custom, and it's informative for us, so the guest understood that by accepting the invitation to the marriage supper, they had made a commitment by accepting that calling, that invitation to come to the supper, they had committed themselves to being ready and to coming promptly when summoned. Their commitment to come, moreover, was a very serious matter in that culture, that time. It was a serious thing. Henry Tristam, again in his book, notes that for a guest to, quote, refuse the second comings would be an insult, a grievous insult to the host. It would be of a grave magnitude. Tristam notes that even in the 19th century in the Middle East, people that said they would come to a supper then didn't, it was the cause for war among some of the Arabic tribes at that time, and then previous two centuries previous to ours.

Now, Tristam adds that the custom also dictated that the host filled a place of celebration with guests. At a great feast, he writes, such as a wedding, nothing could be more dishonoring than that the place of entertainment should not be filled. So if space is allowed for more guests, the host would send servants out to invite anyone who would gladly come to come. And they in turn would be provided on entering with an upper garment or white cloak which would conceal their rags and enable them to present themselves without humiliation. Now, that aspect of the wedding supper, the marriage supper, doesn't appear in Luke's account, but it does appear in Matthew's account. And so, fortified with this better understanding of these ancient customs, let's continue now in the parable where we left off. Let's look now at Luke 14 verse 18.

And so, the guests have been invited, the servants sent out the second time now to summon them to the supper. Let's notice how these guests respond. But they all with one accord began to make excuses.

The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused. And another said, verse 19, I have bought five yoke of oxen and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused. And still another said, I have married a wife. Therefore, I cannot come. The third response is really something, isn't it? And so, the invited guests refused to come. Now, understand again, they understood their obligation. They understood by accepting the invitation, they had made a commitment. But now, when it's time to come, they refuse. They chose not to. And again, not one offered an acceptable reason why they only offered poor excuses. Why are they poor excuses? Let's understand why. You see, the first guest surely would have viewed that piece of ground before buying it, right? He surely would have known what he was buying before he bought it. And not only that, that ground was not going anywhere.

He could have waited till after the married supper if he wanted to go view that land. So it's a poor excuse. And as for the second guest, who would buy 10 oxen without first testing them to see how they work? Let's compare 10 oxen to buying 10, what are tractors nowadays, 10, 20, 30,000 dollar tractors. I grew up on a farm, but we're still using tractors built in the 1940s. I've lost track of multi-million dollar agribusiness equipment now. So again, the second guest, his excuse really does not make sense. It sounds like a poor excuse. Now finally, marrying a wife is no valid reason for not attending a married supper. In fact, having been recently married himself, the third guest would surely have understood his obligation to attend the married supper, just as he expected others to attend his own married supper. But on top of that, the third guest, he doesn't even bother with asking to be excused. Did you notice? He just curtly declares that he cannot come. Where I come from, we'd call that rude. So when the time came to attend the married supper, these three guests refused to come. Why? Well, it's because they were focused on their own personal interests and desires.

Perhaps you noticed, as I was reading through their excuses, verses 18, 19, and 20, did you notice their use of the pronouns? The pronouns, I and me, they're very prevalent in their statements, I and I and me. It's the way Scripture and Jesus showed us that they were focused on themselves. They were focused on themselves. And now the host is right to be angry. Customs have obviously been broken, but the refusal to come, notice, their refusal to come does not stop the married supper from happening. It goes forward. Verse 21 now, continuing on. And so that servant came to his master, reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, he had a right to be angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor, the maim, the lame, and the blind. And the servant said, Master, it is done as you commanded. And still there is room. And then the master said to his servant, Go out into the highways and hedges and compel. Compel here means to convince and persuade. It doesn't mean to force. It means to persuade by good logic and good kind words, convince and persuade them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper, and they are not even going to lick the spoon. The host instead invited the so-called, what the world would call, the unimportant people, the poor, the maim, the lame, and the blind. But because he wanted his house filled and the tables at the supper filled, the host urged his servant to go out to the highways and hedges and invite the homeless, invite those destitute, invite those drifters that are lost, perhaps, who might better appreciate the married supper. And the host filled the guest places of honor with others who gladly received his invitation and most gladly came. They both accepted the invitation and they came.

But those who chose to break their commitment to come would not even get that taste of the supper. Now Bible commentaries offer various explanations about the meaning of this parable. It's generally explained as representing how the Jews rejected Jesus Christ their king and the kingdom of God, and that God would then turn and invite the Gentiles to the kingdom to salvation.

But we can also understand this parable on a more personal level, I believe.

We can understand the parable on a more personal level related to our calling and our commitment to God. You see, the invitation would suggest the Father's calling, our invitation to salvation. You know, the Father calls us, John 644, we're told there, and accepting the invitation will represent our obligation and commitment to God, specifically through that symbolic act of baptism. The summons to the marriage supper would then represent that yet future time when Jesus Christ returns and the marriage supper of the Lamb is ready.

When the seventh trumpet sounds at Christ's return, God's servants, His angels, will quickly go out and gather those together who are Christ. But those who had been invited and had committed themselves to coming, but then later through the process of time, through living their lives, perhaps, later chose not to keep their commitment to God, they would not be gathered by the angels, would they? They would not have kept their commitment. They would not have a part in the marriage supper of the Lamb, no part of salvation. We are among those whom God has invited now to the marriage supper of the Lamb, and we should certainly want to be there. I know we all do.

Christ's parable then warns us to avoid, become so captivated, and so in love with the things of this world, our self-interest, that we would ever choose to give up our so precious calling and commitment to God. It's a very precious calling, and God takes our commitment very seriously. He's been planning on this since before time began, you see, and He's eager to see it fulfilled. We must forever be faithful to God, diligent to stay committed to Him. Let's turn to 1 John 2, verse 15-17. We must be faithful to God in diligence, stay committed to Him. It refused the ways of this world, of our society. And in 1 John 2, verse 15-17, we find these words of warning, and not just warning, but also words of hope. 1 John 2, 15-17.

Here, John was inspired to write, chances are these set of scriptures are deep in our hearts and minds. He's wrote, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it. But he who does the will of God abides forever, eternal life, salvation. The world is going away. That's what God's holy days, that's what Feast of Tabernacles is reminding us. The world is going away. The kingdom of God is coming. And God has invited you and me, all of us, to be in his wonderful kingdom.

He wants us to be members of his family.

So, I like questions. So what should we be doing? So what should we be doing to strengthen our commitment to God, and not just our commitment alone, but also the commitment of those whom we love? Our family and our brethren. You see, we're all family in God's eyes.

I have a few thoughts, a few ideas. First, number one, be guided by God's holy scripture.

Be guided by God's holy scripture. You know, from the beginning to the end of the Bible, God's holy scripture teaches us about the two ways of life.

We are families. Our children need to understand this. They're not going to get it from the world.

There are two ways of life. Sometimes it's called the tree of life, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Other times it's called blessings and curses. It's called light and darkness. It's called the narrow way and the broad way. The narrow way leads to life. The broad way leads to destruction and death. It's also called the book of life and the lake of fire. There are two ways. We are families. Our children need to understand these things. When we choose to be guided by God's word, God will help us discern these two ways of life so we can better stay committed to him. And so we as individuals and families especially need the help of God. We need His guidance. We especially need it now because we're presently living in a time. We're living in a time I find well described in Isaiah chapter 5.20. You might turn there with me. Isaiah 5.20. I'm sure this has crossed your minds too over the last few years and recent times. Isaiah 5 verse 20. God inspired Isaiah to write this many years ago, thousands of years ago.

They are true then, they are true now. God knows humanity. Isaiah was inspired to write, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Isn't that what we see going on now?

What you and I grew up understanding as being good is now called bad.

And it's all topsy-turvy. It's a world turned upside down. Well, maybe I should say it's God's way of life turned upside down.

You might also jot down Proverbs 14.12. Proverbs 14.12, another familiar scripture. They are told there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

And we also understand that the world is so blinded by Satan that they don't know that, they honestly don't recognize, most of them, that what they're doing is wrong and wicked, that they're not living in light, they're living in darkness, and they're calling light the dark. They're blind and confused, and Satan's good at that. The world is so blinded by Satan that many now think that the evil and destructive things they do and are trying to persuade us and our families, our children to do, are actually good. We can't stand for that. We have to stand strong against that.

We have been invited to salvation in the kingdom of God. As individuals and as families, we need to be developing God's perspective of right and wrong. We must believe God. We must believe what His word declares to be good and evil.

We have to because we cannot rely upon society. We cannot rely on popular opinion. We cannot rely upon the latest survey. We certainly can't rely on politicians or educators. We can't rely on our friends or peers. We can't rely on social media, generally speaking. We do have a presence in social media as a church, of course.

And we really can't even rely on our own personal opinions. We can't trust ourselves. We better not, because we're human. We're weak. We're easily influenced by Satan, too. You see, without the help of God and His Holy Scripture, we won't know righteousness from sin. Only God, our Creator and Sovereign, only He knows what's best for us. And so it's vital that we understand God's word. We have to be guided by God's word, not human words, not our own words. And then we must commit ourselves to believing God and doing what He says. Very simple, the profound definition of faith and commitment. Believing God and doing what He says. To stay committed to God, we should be striving to follow His instructions. We should be determined to remove those contrary influences from our lives. And if we're doing things God's Bible says we shouldn't do, then we know the solution. We repent. And He will help us do that. And He will forgive us. And so we really need to guard what our ears and what our eyes consume. We have to be careful what we take in, what we eat, per se. We have to be careful about talk radio. There's a lot of confusion in there. Books, music, powerful influences, social media, the programs we watch. Not just we, but we allow our children to watch.

And movies, websites, video games. I could go on, but you can fill in the rest of that.

We should need to reject these things, any things that mock God, that mock His way of life. That includes marriage. That includes the role of moms and dads and husbands and wives, and the roles of children. We need to strive to practice what God guides us to do through Scripture, how God wants family to be, how God wants us to be happy. The true happiness is found in God's guidance. It's not going to be found in following the latest survey. You know, a profound principle for ourselves and our children to live by is found in Isaiah 8, verse 20. I taught this many years ago, and it's very profound. Again, God's Word is profound, and the principles are basic, simple, but life-changing. Isaiah 8, verse 20. Isaiah again inspired. He said, To the law and to the testimony. He's referring to the Old Testament, the Bible, at that time. The principle is the same. We go to the Bible. To the law and the testimony. If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them. And so, if Scripture shows that certain values, attitudes, lifestyles are not of God, we must avoid them. We must reject them, and we must repent from practicing them. We must not become comfortable with the sinful ways of the world. Because when we do, we will be weakening our commitment to God. We may be finding ourselves beginning to compromise on what God says, and that's not going to be good for us. We don't want to do that. We don't want to be like the three guests of Christ's parable, who refused in time then to come to the marriage supper. The Bible must be our go-to place for guidance in life. For all of us and our children, only God's truth and only God's Word guides us to salvation, and that's a truth that we all can understand. Very young age and certainly very old age. Young or old, we must be guided by God's Holy Scripture. A second thing we can do, develop an enduring love for God and His law.

Develop an enduring love for God and His law.

Yes, we must keep God's Ten Commandments into the fullest expression as Jesus Christ lived and taught. You see, the Ten Commandments define God's love and way of life. Second John 1.6 states, this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. Again, that's 2 John 1.6. His commandments must become written on our hearts and our minds and expressed towards God and towards others in all that we think, all that we do, and all that we say.

A right relationship with God requires that we understand and keep God's commandments, and that's why Jesus taught His disciples John 15 verse 10. Look what John, in John 15 verse 10, John records a statement. Jesus taught His disciples as we read in John 15 verse 10, saying, If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. Jesus kept the commandments.

They are His Father's commandments, and He commands us to keep doing it ourselves. To abide in His love, as it states here in John 15.10, means to stay committed. It means to stay faithful to God.

It requires that we stop telling God no, as maybe we might like to do sometimes. We must stop telling God no, and then we stop ignoring Him. Now we stop insisting that our will be done, and instead, with His help, we humbly submit to Him willingly.

That's that good childlike attitude Jesus said we need to have in order that we might be able to enter the kingdom.

Now let's also turn back to Deuteronomy 7 verse 9. Deuteronomy 7 verse 9.

There's some more truth that God gives us here. He gave it to us through Moses, His servant. Deuteronomy 7 verse 9. God gave this truth.

Moses was inspired saying, Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, the God who keeps commitments, who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments. We love God when we keep His commandments, when we love our brothers and sisters.

God is faithful. He will certainly help us as individuals and families to believe Him and do what He says. Now to teach our children to love God and to be faithful in keeping His law, that is a responsibility, God, a precious responsibility God has given to parents. And the rest of us should be very supportive of parents as they strive the best they can to teach their children whom they love to love God. Very important. We see this in Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 5 through 7. Deuteronomy 6, 5 through 7. Again, through Moses, God commanded, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today, referring to the commandments, these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. Note verse 7. I know the parents understand this one. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. So when are we supposed to be teaching our children God's commandments way of life? All the time. All the time. Every opportunity we have. That's what we're supposed to be doing. Now how might we practice God's instruction here? How might we put this to work? Well, we do it by talking respectfully and humbly about God. We do it by trying our very best, as parents. Now I'm speaking, and of course other adults, talking respectfully and humbly about God, and trying our best to live His way of life in all that we do. And so everything about our family life, our daily life, life itself, should be talking about God. That should all be part of our normal day in and day out things we do. While we're helping the kids get ready for bed at night, and help them get up in the morning, getting their lunches made, taking them to school, whatever it is, helping them learn to take care of their pets. Everything we do with our kids is an opportunity for us to be teaching them something more about God. My point is, is that talking to our children, teaching our children about God is not something we only do on the Sabbath day when we feel like we have time, and it's an, maybe we think that's an appropriate time. No, an appropriate time is all the time. Time is something we don't control, really. We don't know if we'll have tomorrow or the next hour, and so we have to make good use of our time with our children while we have it.

We're to teach our children how to live. That's what God's way is. It's how to live. We need to live it.

Teaching our children God's way requires that we parents love God and keep His commandments, too. That makes sense, doesn't it?

In a former profession of mine, I was a teacher for many years, and I learned the hard way sometimes. And I'm also a parent, and I've learned the hard way sometimes is the best way to know what to teach is you have to you have to practice it yourself. And when we practice God's way of life, our children are watching us. They're going to see what we do right and what we do wrong, and they're going to they're going to point it out to us, and that's good, I guess. It's humbling, isn't it? But it's good for us. It helps us to get better. It helps us get better. And so we'll be far more successful to instill in our children a lasting love for God and His way when our children see us setting the example of God's way of life, of living, when our children see us trying hard to do what God says is right.

And so, yes, they need to see us returning that extra change to the clerk at Walmart when she gave us too much. That ever happened to you? The kids watch that. That's an important lesson about not stealing. They need to see us serving in the congregation, perhaps, or helping our neighbors. And it's really great if the kids are there alongside us, helping us along the way. That's great mentoring, isn't it? They need to hear our stories about our little challenges.

And I think I have time to share this with you. Many years ago, it was my tradition to get a newspaper every Sunday morning. My son loved the comic strips. He could hardly read them, but he'd look at them, right? Remember when they had comic strips in the Sunday paper? I'm not even sure if they have Sunday papers anymore. Anyway, I put my coins in the machine by the post office.

I opened the door, and I've never been to Vegas. I've never played a slot machine, but it's like the slot machine happened. All these coins came pouring out, all these quarters, down the ground, bouncing down the pavement. Nobody saw me. For a split second, I thought, wow! And then a split second later, that's not yours. That's not yours. So then for about the next five minutes, I was trying to cram these quarters back in the machine, because somebody would lose that if I didn't put it back.

And so I put a few in, opened the door, they'd pop out again. Something was wrong with the mechanism. But after about five minutes or so, I finally got the head up in about 10-15 dollars worth of quarters. A lot of them back in that machine. And then I jiggled it, it stayed put, and I left. I thought, if it's a blessing for another person, so be it. I'm going to do the right thing. I did get my Sunday paper, by the way.

And I got back home. I told my kids about it. But that, my kids are all grown now. But at that time, they were probably seven in five. And their eyes got big when I told them about all the money that rolled out on the ground. Dad, what did you do? I'm playing it up, right? Dad's like to do that sometimes. I'm playing it up. Dad, what did you do? And their eyes were, well, like the size of half dollars, if you know what half dollars are.

They were, they were like, wow! And I said, I put it back. And they got quiet. And I said, yeah, I put it back. That's not mine. And somebody had missed that. And somebody get in trouble if I didn't put that back. And I said, you know, I could have done the wrong thing. But I think I did the right thing. What do you think? Yeah, yeah, you did the right thing, dad. Now, I haven't asked my kids in recent years if they remember me telling that.

But that, to me, is the sort of thing parents can be really good at. Sharing with their children our little temptations, sharing with our children, how did we handle that? Because we are the most important teacher, teachers our parents have. And, of course, it's not just limited to parents. It's also the grandparents and the larger family and also brethren.

Also, all of us as brethren. Our kids need to hear us fighting our temptations, fighting the world, and being successful because we need to be their heroes, godly heroes in that sense, showing them the example of how to live our lives. You know what else they need to hear from us? Maybe we didn't hear it growing up. They need to hear from us. I'm sorry. They need to hear from us. Dad was wrong.

I should not have said that. They need to hear from us. Please forgive me. I thought you were the one that did that. And we give extra hugs sometimes because we're sorry. We're seeking forgiveness. Children really need to see their parents and grandparents. They really need to see everyone in the congregations practicing God's love towards them and towards one another, don't they? Yes, I know. We are clear. God's instruction in Deuteronomy 6, verse 5 through 7 is addressed to parents. But everyone in the body of Christ has the same obligation and the same commitment to be practicing God's way of life.

So whether young or old, we all benefit when we are committed to loving God in His way. We're following the instruction example of Jesus Christ. Our personal living examples of God love in our families and our congregations. It's like that little example I gave. They should not be easily forgotten. They probably won't be. They can be used to inspire others, young and old, to do the same. And so in every way we can, I'd encourage us to be developing an enduring love for God and His law. And the third thing, we need to make our commitments meaningful. This is for all of us, young and old again. Make our commitments meaningful.

To keep our commitment with God, we should be learning to keep our commitments with others.

God wants us to keep our commitments. God wants us to learn to be trustworthy. In Matthew 5 verse 37, for example, Matthew 5 verse 37, Jesus taught this. Matthew 5, 37, Jesus taught, but let your yes be yes, and your no be no. We know that. For whatever is more than these, Jesus said, is from the evil one. There could be waffling going on. There can be hedging. There can be a weakening of what our words should mean. We might look at this as saying our decisions, our choices, or what we say and do should mean what they mean. Similarly, in Isaiah 29 verse 13, Isaiah 29 verse 13, we see that God is displeased with those who say the right things, but then fail to follow through and do them. Isaiah 29 verse 13.

It reads, therefore the Lord said, Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths, and honor me with their lips, they say the right things, but have removed their hearts from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the commandment of men. And it continues on, saying that God is really displeased with that. Of course, he's talking about hypocrisy. Jesus Christ himself had a lot to say about hypocrisy and teaching his disciples. And so, yes, we should mean what we mean and mean what we say. It's a good proverb, good practice. We don't want to be liars or hypocrites. If we make a promise, then we should keep it. If we make a commitment, then we should keep it. Now, of course, that means we should really think carefully before we do make a promise, before we do make a commitment, because our words need to mean something. We mustn't make promises or commitments that we cannot keep, and that's something we can certainly be teaching our children to understand. When we consistently follow through with our commitments and our promises, as we're striving to be more like God, well, then we will become trustworthy. We will become more faithful. And that's important to everyone, especially in a family. It's especially important to God. Now, to make our commitments truly meaningful, we must resist breaking them, right? We must resist breaking them. And a good way to avoid that, a good way to avoid breaking our commitments, is to avoid making those, I know I need to, but excuses. You ever heard of those? Let me say it again. I'll speak it more slowly. We need to avoid making those, I know I need to, but excuses. Did you catch it that time? Yeah. We make these excuses when we decide to do what we want to do. For example, I'll give you some examples. I know I need to get a checkup, but I can toughen out that pain just a little longer. That sound familiar to any of us? I know I need to go to my daughter's ballet recital, but I got big tickets. Big tickets. I got tickets to the big game. How about that? That makes more sense. I got tickets to the big game. Here's one for the younger ones in our audience today. I know I need to feed the dog like dad said, but I need to go ride my bike with my friends. See? I need to, but excuses. Now, the best way to stop making this type of poor excuse is not to say, but. But instead, we just need to stop right there. Just stop right there mid-phrase, mid-sentence, and do what we need to do. I'm working on myself on this, so I'm here with this. I'm here with us all. Here are some examples of breaking this excuse. For example, I know I need to visit grandma. Stop right there. Okay? And just go do it. Just do it. I know I need to tell the truth. Stop and go do it. Just tell the truth. Don't give yourself an alternative. I know I need to fight this temptation. Stop. Stop and fight it. Walk away from it. Run away from it.

Turn it off. Whatever's there.

With self-discipline, God's help, we can stop making those, I know I need to, but excuses and do what we ought to do.

Our lives will be so much better when our commitments become more meaningful in this way. God will be pleased. Our family and brethren will love us more.

And I think even hungry little dogs will be happier, too. You see, I stress this type of excuse because it seems to be what the three supper guests of Christ's parable were doing when you think about it. It's as if the first one was saying, I know I need to go to the marriage supper, but I need to test drive my oxen first. Or is that the second one? I need to test drive my oxen first. It's a pretty poor and lousy excuse. They did what they wanted to do. That was more important to them. And by doing so, they broke their commitment. And because of that, we are told that they had absolutely no part in the marriage supper, which we understand, we can't understand to represent salvation. Would we ever do that to God? Would we ever do that to God? Would we ever say something like this, I know I need to receive salvation in the kingdom of God and receive a glorious and mortal spirit body, but I need to do this first. That would be silly, wouldn't it? That would be not so good. We don't want to do that. So again, life is much better when we keep our commitments and stop making excuses. And whether we're young or old, we can understand that. We must make our commitments meaningful. And so our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, His Son, they love us very, very much. I think we've understood that and we understand it today. And they will never, they will never give up their commitment to us. And aren't we glad? They will never stop helping us getting into the kingdom of God. God wants us to stay up forever faithful to Him. And so yes, it means we must, in the words of Galatians 6-9, we must not grow weary while doing good. We for in due season, we shall reap if we do not lose heart. And God in Christ will give us the heart and the courage, that commitment, and that conviction we need to do so. And so, as I conclude today, may we forever love and follow God. May we never give up our commitment to believing God in doing what He says. And may we all take our place, may we all take our place at the married Supper at the Lamb with the return of Jesus Christ and forever be members in God's divine family.