What's my mission today?

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

We have in this verse a mission and a message. After reminding us of who we are, Peter continues with a purpose statement, "that you may declare the praises of him." Of course this "him" is none other than Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. We are reminded that our calling and privilege is to declare his praises. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever says the Westminster Catchecism. This verse is proof of this claim. Our calling is to praise Christ. A thought that should be on our minds every day is "How shall I declare His praise today?"

This mission is rooted in a message. The message is none other than the simple and glorious truth of the gospel "called you out of darkeness into his wonderful light." This is is the motivation of my declaration of his praise today.

Developing a love for Christ in my kids

"Love to Christ is the point which we ought specially to dwell upon in teaching religion to children. Election, imputed righteousness, original sin, justification, sanctification, and even faith itself, are matters which sometimes puzzle a child of tender years. But love to Jesus seems far more within reach of their understanding. That He loved them even to His death, and that they ought to love Him in return, is a creed which meets the span of their minds. How true it is that "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise!" (Matt. xxi. 16.) There are myriads of Christians who know every article of the Athanasian, Nicene, and Apostolic Creeds, and yet know less of real Christianity than a little child who only knows that he loves Christ." [Holiness, Chapter 15, Point I, Section c]

I've puzzled over the best way to encourage my children to develop a personal love for God. This paragraph just jumped out at me because of its simplicity. A love for Christ can be encouraged in my kids by pointing them toward the gospel as the demonstration of His love for them. It's that simple.

Christ is All

I have been reading through J.C. Ryle's book called Holiness. It has had a profound impact on me. I wish I could relate all of it, but as I cannot. I must simply highly, highly recommend it. I've viewed an active pursuit of holiness negatively for many years. This book has opened my eyes to the nature of a true pursuit of holiness. It is not simply a change in the way we act, but runs through the very core of the Christian. It begins in our justification by Christ and is continued by Him in our sanctification. I am including a link to the last chapter of the book called Christ is All.

http://home.comcast.net/~matthew.t.lowe/ryle/christ_is_all.htm