14 ¶ For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named Ephesian 3:14-15 (NKJV)
By Bro. John L. Cash, “Country Preacher Dad”
I’m expecting this Father’s Day to be an exciting one for me. After I finish preaching my Sunday sermon, I’ll be heading to Mississippi Christian Service Camp to help direct a week of Bible camp. We hope to have a big crowd of 5th and 6th grade campers — an age group I especially like working with. My family and some dear friends will be at camp with me that week, so I know I’ll have plenty of good help.
Our theme for this week is “I Want to Be a Worker for the Lord.” Sometime during my childhood we used to sing a hymn by that name. I had a hard time hunting down the song, but I was finally able to download the sheet music from a very old hymnal somebody had scanned onto the Internet. I plan on teaching the campers to sing it.
I’ve spent a long time getting things ready for my week of camp, so I’ll share my sermonic thoughts I’ve prepared for the campers with you. The theme centers around the “Four Big Decisions Every Person Needs to Make.” Teach these to your children because they really will make a world of difference. Here’s the list:
Decision #1: To become an obedient follower of Jesus Christ.
This is clearly the most important decision we’ll ever make because it will determine where we spend eternity. When we stand before God on the last day, the most important thing of all is going to be our relationship with His Son.
Decision #2: To choose a good and godly spouse.
When a Christian marries well, it makes life so much happier and everything so much easier. While our decision to follow Christ determines if we will have heaven or hell in eternity, to a large extent, the person we marry will determine if we will have heaven or hell on earth!
Decision #3: To choose (and train for) a good vocation.
Have you noticed that it takes a big pile of money to pay all the bills? St. Paul said we should all work with our hands so that we can help supply our daily needs and so we have something to share with others. And since we’re all called to be workers, how much better to have a vocation you love. You know, if you’re able to labor doing the job you love, you never have to “work” a day in your life.
Decision #4: To choose the work we will do for the Lord
In training our children, sometimes the teaching of this decision gets neglected. Some people think the Lord’s work is only for the Preacher to do. But we all have to seek out the work that the Lord has for each of us to do. Even children have work they can do for the Saviour.
I’ll be expanding my thoughts about these things in a series of articles over the next few weeks, so be sure to tune in. In the meantime, say a prayer for us all this week. I’m off to Bible camp — and I want to be a worker for the Lord.
Dr. John L. Cash is the “Country Preacher Dad.” He was raised in Stuttgart, Arkansas, and has spent the last 25 years being a country preacher in the piney woods five miles south of the little town of Hickory, Mississippi. (On week days he works at a public school.) He and his lovely wife, Susan, and his sons, Spencer (age 20) and Seth (age 17) live in the parsonage next door to the Antioch Christian Church (where the members do all sorts of work for the Lord.) He would love to hear from you in an email sent to jcash@scott.k12.ms.us.
