Walk with God, for He seeth you
Saturday, January 19, 2008 at 07:35AM XXXI. To NINIAN MURE, a parishioner
LOVING FRIEND, — I received your letter. I entreat you now, in the morning of your life, to seek the Lord and His face. Beware of the follies of dangerous youth, a perilous time for your soul. Love not the world. Keep faith and truth with all men in your covenants and bargains. Walk with God, for He seeth you. Do nothing but that which ye may and would do if your eye-strings were breaking, and your breath growing cold. Ye heard the truth of God from me, my dear heart, follow it, and forsake it not. Prize Christ and salvation above all the world. To live after the guise and course of the rest of the world will not bring you to heaven; without faith in Christ, and repentance, ye cannot see God. Take pains for salvation; press forward toward the mark for the prize of the high calling. If ye watch not against evils night and day, which beset you, ye will come behind. Beware of lying, swearing, uncleanness, and the rest of the works of the flesh; because ‘for these things the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience’. How sweet soever they may seem for the present, yet the end of these courses is the eternal wrath of God, and utter darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Grace be with you.
Your loving pastor.
ABERDEEN, 1637
This semester, Sam and I are working through a "life management" book--you know the kind--decision making, love, sex, and romance. It's marketed as a Christian curriculum, but we're a couple of weeks into it and, in my opinion, it falls far short. Yes, there are Bible verses and Biblical examples--it's not all bad--but it is so "practical" that it wildly misses the mark. It just never gets to the heart of the matter which is, of course, the heart.
In the case of this curriculum, Rutherford's letter might read like this:
LOVING FRIEND Young man with natural, normal urges, — I received your letter. I entreat you now, in the morning of your life, to seek the Lord and His face find a virtuous wife and remain pure. Beware of the follies of dangerous youth, a perilous time for your soul body and future. Love not the world. Don't watch television or movies or go with girls who do. Keep faith and truth with all men in your covenants and bargains. Don't make promises to girls until you are ready to propose marriage. Walk with God, for He seeth you. Walk with your parents and teachers for they are watching you. Do nothing but that which ye may and would do if your eye-strings were breaking, and your breath growing cold that will allow you to be alone with a girl. Ye heard the truth of God about STDs and unwanted pregnancies and unhappy marriages and divorce from me, my dear heart, follow it, and forsake it not. Prize Christ and salvation a virtuous wife and a happy marriage above all the world. To live after the guise and course of the rest of the world collect many friends and date many girls will not bring you to health and happiness; without faith in Christ, and repentance, ye cannot see God. a daily shower and clean fingernails you will not get a godly date. Take pains for salvation; press forward toward the mark for the prize of the high calling to be polite to her parents and eat whatever is placed before you when you are invited for dinner. If ye watch not against evils night and day, which beset you, ye will come behind marry the wrong girl and ruin your life. Beware of lying, swearing, uncleanness, and the rest of the works of the flesh being alone with a girl, watching movies, neglecting to tell her parents what time you will have her home, getting too serious, touching in any way before marriage; because ‘for these things the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience’ your parents will not trust you and you will ruin your life. How sweet soever they may seem for the present, yet the end of these courses is the eternal wrath of God, and utter darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth STDs, unwanted pregnancy, unhappy marriages, no college education, no financial stability. Grace be with you.
Sigh. . .I think we'll set aside the "Christian curriculum" and pursue the Word of God instead.
Reader Comments (5)
What a great way to make your point! Is it any wonder there's so much works righteousness in young people's thinking?
that's exactly it, isn't it? The guys at White Horse Inn call it "therapeutic moralistic deism.
Pitiful contrast, isn't it. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "God wants me to be happy, and I feel a peace about doing this." (Referring to behavior specifically opposing the Word of God.)
We all have an infinite capacity to justify and rationalize. Without renewing our minds by the Word of God, we are hardly aware of that!
Reminds me of the young teen guys so called bible "Refuel." So says its publishers "Titled the Refuel Bible, it contains the worldly splash and dash of the Revolve, but with a guy’s appeal. The hip-hop cover blazes with a rockin’ electric Les Paul guitar. The "rock and roll" cover was designed by Anderson Thomas Design, who also does rockin’ covers for Faith Hill’s CDs, the Newsboys, and many other rockers. One reviewer describes the Refuel cover as, "The splashy cover should attract any young guy interested in girls, hot-dogging on skis, girls, basketball, pop music ... and girls." This breaks my heart ...
shudder. . .breaks my heart, too.
I'm with you, Kim. I'm taking a leadership class through my church that includes as part of its reading material a book by David Benner called "The Gift of Being Yourself." I tried to explain to people in my class why the book was so bad, and I got through to some, but there are still people reading it who don't get the difference between, say, using an enneagram to help you identify sin in your life and using the Bible......
It just makes me sad.
Me, too.
This post is absolutely PRICELESS! Keep it up!