Kids

Proverbs 22:6 states, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” This powerful verse emphasizes the importance of early and intentional education and guidance for children. It implies that the values and principles instilled in a child during their formative years will shape their character and behavior throughout their life. This proverb serves as a reminder to parents and caregivers about the profound impact they have on shaping the future of their children. It highlights the responsibility of adults to provide moral, spiritual, and educational guidance to nurture children into responsible, virtuous individuals. Ultimately, Proverbs 22:6 encourages a proactive approach towards raising children with strong foundations to navigate life’s challenges with integrity and wisdom.

Worship

By Hank Hanegraaff

Although some Christian traditions denounce Sunday worship as the end time “mark of the Beast,” there are good reasons why millions of Christians gather on the first day of the week for worship.

First, remembering the resurrection, the early Christian church changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. Within weeks, thousands of Jews willingly gave up a theological tradition that had given them their national identity. God Himself had provided the early church a new pattern of worship with Christ’s resurrection on the first day of the week as well as with the Holy Spirit’s descent on Pentecost Sunday.

Furthermore, Scripture provides us with the reasons behind the symbol of the Sabbath. In Genesis, the Sabbath was a celebration of God’s completed work in creation (Genesis 2:2–3; Exodus 20:11). After the Exodus, the Sabbath expanded to a celebration of God’s deliverance from oppression in Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:15). As a result of Jesus’ resurrection, the Sabbath’s emphasis shifted once again. It became a celebration of the rest we have through Christ who delivers us from sin and the grave (Hebrews 4:1–11). For the emerging Christian church, the most dangerous snare was a failure to recognize that Jesus was the substance that fulfilled the symbol of the Sabbath.

Finally, if you insist on being slavishly bound to Old Testament laws, you should also be forewarned that failing to keep the letter of the law might be hazardous to your health. According to the Mosaic law, anyone who does any work on the Sabbath “must be put to death” (Exodus 35:2). As the apostle Paul explained, however, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13). The Sabbath was “a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, how- ever, is found in Christ” (Colossians 2:17). In the end, religious rites must inevitably bow to redemptive realities.

Let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

Colossians 2:16–17 NKJV