Once upon a time it was that most everyone could quote John 3:16 from memory. We may not have understood it, but, thanks to Sunday school and Vacation Bible School, we could quote it perfectly by heart. It goes like this: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
I was only seven or eight years old at the time and all the neighborhood kids went to Vacation Bible School. It was just expected back then. The cultural mind set was different then than it is now. Nowadays people question everything. Questioning things is not a bad thing. Indeed, it is the perfect method for learning. However, there is a big difference between someone questioning what you say in an attitude of sincerely wanting to know and understand something and someone questioning you in an attitude of disrespect and scornfulness. I see that latter attitude a lot any more. Everyone wants respect but they don't seem willing to give it. We reap what we sow.
The current generation and the one before it seem to have an attitude of flippancy about everything. Nothing is sacred anymore. It would seem that respect and courtesy have gone out of style, and the atmosphere needed for true intimacy has gone with them. Respect is one of the foundation stones for intimacy. The truly sad part in all that is we are so inundated with and surrounded by flippancy and disrespect that we have become innured to it, no longer understanding or even noticing that we are lacking in some area that is vital to every relationship we have in life, including our relationship with God. Intimacy will not grow without the presence of respect for one another even in the midst of disagreements. We must constantly check our own hearts and attitudes and be willing to root out everything in ourselves that would hinder our relationships with God and others.
I'm reminded of the story of the frog in the pan of water. If you throw a live frog into a pan of hot water he will jump out. But if you put him in a pan of cold water, set the pan on the heat and let the temperature rise slowly, the frog will adjust with the temp of the water as it rises until it eventually kills him. Notice in the second instance he went willingly to the slaughter. Maybe there's a message in that for us.
"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night." Psalms 1:1-2
Scripture taken from the New King James Version (NKJV). Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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