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Everybody Knows?
It’s easy to assume, isn’t it, that certain things are just common knowledge. Everybody knows how to change a flat tire, right? Everybody knows how to make scrambled eggs, right? Everybody knows how to balance a checkbook….
Not necessarily!
Soon after I transferred into Berean in the middle of my sophomore year, I got a job working on a farm just southeast of Whitewater, owned by a gracious man and his wife, Rolland and Mildred Klassen. The only trouble was, I hadn’t grown up on a farm. I was a “town kid,” and so I made a lot of mistakes. Rolland had to patiently teach me dozens of things I simply didn’t know. (Oh, the stories that could be told…!)
All across the spectrum of life, kids don’t automatically know how to live, how to conduct themselves, how to make good decisions, how to honor God. It’s not their fault. But it is our responsibility. That’s what we parents, grandparents, and teachers do, if we truly care about young people.
Psalm 78 urges us to
… tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,
his power, and the wonders he has done.
He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach their children,
so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children. (vss. 4-6)
Let me ask you: Have your kids ever heard “the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord” in your history? Have you ever told them the story of how and when you gave your heart to Christ? What about when God guided you to make a big decision—what job to take, or what person to marry? Have they heard about the time you prayed an urgent prayer, and God answered? They deserve to know these things!
Verses 7-8 go on say why:
Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.
They would not be like their ancestors—
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
whose spirits were not faithful to him.
Would you ever tell your children about the mistakes you made along the way—and the price you paid? Or have you tried to pose as the consistently perfect Christian saint? Part of our job as parents and teachers is to admit where we’ve gotten off track, saying, “Don’t do what I did. Follow the better path.”
It’s a huge job bringing up the next generation of Christians. Parents and Berean all have their hands full. But it’s vitally important.
And it costs money. That’s why I encourage everyone to be generous, even without the stimulus of a Praise & Celebration Banquet this year. The financial costs go on regardless. So give willingly, that this student body will have the blessing of becoming adults who know what matters most.
--Dean Merrill, Class of 1960
For more information please visit BEREANPANDC.com