God Doesn't Have Any Grandchildren

There is a story that has been going around for years, now, about a woman who always cut both ends of the roast off before she cooked it. Her husband asked her why she did it, because he had never seen his mother do that, and it seemed like a real waste of good beef. She replied that her mother had always done it that way. The two of them considered that for a while, and called her mother to ask why she cut the ends off of the roast. Well, because her mother always did it. So they called grandmother: “Why do we cut the ends off of the roast before roasting it?” “Well, I don’t know why you do it, I always did it because the only pan I had was too small for a whole roast.”
I heard a preacher on the radio some time ago saying that God doesn’t have any grandchildren. That puzzled me at first, but he went on to explain: If one’s parents have made a profession of faith, and accepted Jesus as their personal savior, been baptized, done all of the things that are expected of them as Christians, that is only enough for their own salvation. Hopefully, in the process of raising their children, they will instill in them at least a respect for God’s Word, and desire to live right. At least in some instances, the children see the commitment that the parents have towards God, and want no part of it. Some people seem to think that because their parents have a relationship with God, then they are okay with God, too. It can get interesting, but Jesus saves by the each. He doesn’t save whole families; each member of the family must come to God on their own. Your parents may be children of God, but that doesn’t make you His grandchild; you either become a child of God of your own volition, or you are none of His.
I have seen a lot of people lately that attend church where they don’t agree with the doctrine that is being taught. That puzzles me. There are all kinds of churches in this country, why would you attend where you don’t have agreement? I realize that, in some cases, they are attending church where they were raised. In some cases, they were taught growing up that God would only take them to Heaven if they were members of that particular church. Let me ask you a question: If you don’t believe what the church believes, are you really a member of that church, anyway? My suggestion would be to sit down with your pastor, and discuss your differences. Perhaps he can help you understand why the church believes what it believes, and help you to believe it also. If not, then maybe you should find another church. As I said earlier, there are all kinds of churches. Spend some time in prayer; ask God to show you where He would have you to attend church, but be prepared to accept His guidance. If He guides you right back to the church that you’ve been attending, then maybe you need to correct your own beliefs, but God can help you with that, too.

Betrothed

One of the questions that I drove people nuts with as a kid was, "Why did Mary tell the angel that she didn't know a man, when she knew Joseph?" Of course, nobody wanted to explain to me that when they say 'know' in the Bible, they aren't talking about what I thought they were talking about.

Of course, as an adult, then I had people tell me, "Oh, well you have to understand what the word 'betrothed' means." I know what the word betrothed means, but the Bible doesn't say that Joseph and Mary were betrothed, it says that they were espoused. Espoused means exactly what it sounds like: They were spouses; husband and wife.

But that pretty much brings us back to the original question: Why did Mary tell the angel that she knew not a man? Why was she so sure that she was not going to bear her husband's child? My father actually put me on the right track for that one, a couple of Christmas's ago; he made the comment that marriage traditions must have been very different back then.

They were. Boys and girls, and even young men and young women, lived with their parents until they were married. Even then, once the ceremony had taken place, it was the man's responsibility to get a job, if he didn't already have one, and find a piece of land, buy it, build on it, and, when he had their home ready, then he would come back to his wife (who was still living with her parents) and take her to their home. In other words, he would go away, and prepare a place for her. This had the added benefit of additional proof, even if only to the young couple, that they actually married for love, and not for sex. So, even though Mary and Joseph were married when the angel came, he was away building a house. She didn't expect him back for many months, certainly not within the time frame that the angel indicated. How can this be? What will my husband say when he comes back and finds me pregnant (or perhaps a mother)? All legitimate concerns, but God had the answer. So, when Joseph came back, and found his wife pregnant, and knowing it wasn't his, he was nice enough that he was going to divorce Mary quietly, without making any accusations, but the angel appeared to him, and talked him out of it. So their neighbors just assumes that Joseph took his honeymoon a little early. At least they didn't think that Mary and Joseph had sinned, by getting together before their marriage, just that they had taken some liberties with tradition.