Pastoral Concerns

Rev. A. Moerkerken, Capelle a/d Ijssel, the Netherlands

Have a Safe Trip!

Away?

The time of vacationing and traveling has again begun. Not everyone has a need to travel, and not everyone has the opportunity or the means to do it. We should also keep that in mind.

To go somewhere for a shorter or longer period, thereby to escape the pressures of everyday life, can have its benefits. That these upcoming weeks are not without danger and temptations is regrettably apparent also among us, both young and old. There are external dangers, and we should not underestimate also the internal dangers. He who knows all things, also what dwells in our hearts, says in Mark 7:20-23, “That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these things come from within, and defile the man.” Evil does not come only from the outside. It is certain, however, that the external temptations will not diminish the evil internal inclinations. With that in mind it is only understandable that we look up against the coming weeks with fear and trembling. Regrettably, there are also reasons for that!

How necessary it is that we consider... that we are all on a journey which we can take only once. Neither we nor our children can repeat our life’s journey. Our journey is to our eternal destination.

Away... from everything?

Away from our familiar everyday surroundings, away from our customary lifestyle, away from what is usual and what we are accustomed to, away ... yes, but where do the boundaries lie? We would like to consider those boundaries with you before you and your children travel from home. Our hearts and our time are filled with the obscuring and the moving and changing of our boundaries. Do we realize that sufficiently? When we speak of boundaries, we are referring to those which the Lord has revealed to us in His Word—the boundaries which have been placed between the church and the world, between His day and the other days of the week, between good and evil, between man and woman, etc.

It is in this manner that we wish you a safe trip. Therefore, it should not be necessary to write about anything and everything to thereby advocate a set of rules to follow. We do not want to do that, and we may not do that. We do wish to place your conscience next to God’s unchangeable testimony so that we may lay the boundaries in the coming weeks in the same manner as Gods Word reveals them. It is hoped that we would not, in a headstrong way, go our own way in making all sorts of decisions in the coming weeks. Then it would definitely not be a safe trip, on the contrary!

2 of the 52

It is our hope that, as parents, we would be consistent in conversation and example; what is not allowed at home should also not be allowed when we are on vacation; otherwise, we can break down and undermine in a single week what we have tried to build, albeit with many shortcomings, in the remaining weeks of the year.

How necessary it is that we consider, in the coming weeks and those that may follow, that we are all on a journey which we can take only once. Neither we nor our children can repeat our life’s journey. Our journey is to our eternal destination: “Because man goeth to his long home...” (Ecclesiastes 12:5c), and in closing, verses 13&14, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”

May the daily realization of that, even when we are elsewhere, be seen in our walk. That the earnestness of it would mark our life’s journey.

Rest

May the Lord cause us to seek, and to find, that rest where it alone can be found, that is, at His Throne of Grace, at the feet of the Great Restgiver, who invites and draws those who are tired and burdened with their guilt and lost state. This rest we wish for you with all our heart! Outside of that rest our heart remains restless, and our eyes are never satisfied with seeing. The rest in God through Christ —that is the rest which we cannot do without.

We wish to bind this upon your hearts before you begin your journey. May the Lord remember those who remain at home, no matter what their circumstances are, and those who live with difficulties and cares. They are also traveling life’s journey. May the Lord protect us upon the roads we will travel. Our prayer for you is, “The Lord bless you and keep you...”

For all of you, young and old, at home or elsewhere, we commend you to God!

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