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The World

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The World

10 minuten leestijd Arcering uitzetten

Dear Boys and Girls,

“Are you looking for trouble?” I questioned our goat. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was doing just that. I watched in amusement as she put her hooves up on the rail of the fence and peered over curiously. She had already investigated the chicken coop thoroughly one day with the result that her head became quite stuck, and she often liked to try to sneak through the sliding door into the basement if we didn’t watch carefully. She would even put her front feet on our sheep’s back in order to try to reach the pail in my hand, just to see what was in it. “What are you so curious about now?” I wanted to know, rubbing her head. “Don’t you remember how sick you were when you grazed over there?” She looked at me, her sweet face looking completely innocent, and blinked her big golden-yellow eyes as if to say, “Who, me?”

Our animals have a comfortable place to live. They receive plenty of hay and grass to eat and a snack of grain each night, and they like our loving attention each day. They have their hooves trimmed and their coats brushed when needed, and when they are sick, their temperature taken and medicine given. They are fussed over and cared for. The sheep is happy to graze most of the day, and the goat chews her cud while watching the animals around her with wise eyes.

It is true that the yard on the other side of the fence must look very appealing. The grass is long and lush. There are trees lining the yard with delicious leaves to gobble up and bushes and plants near the house with greenery to nibble. Perhaps that is why one day I heard our sheep bleating loudly because her friend had disappeared. It took only a moment to spot the naughty goat. There she was, on the wrong side of the fence, busily snatching up leaves by the mouthful. My children put her back, but in a moment, she was out again. The third time, we watched and discovered that she had found the one small space where the fence was still unfinished. I shook my head as I pulled her back through the gate and made sure she couldn’t escape again. It made me smile to see her copy the sheep’s example and get down on both knees, stretch her neck, and reach under the fence with her nose to nibble a few blades of grass she could reach from the other side. Then they both wandered away to the hay net and contentedly munched on more hay.

That silly goat did not remember at all what a stomach ache she had had the day I let her graze too much on the wrong side of the fence. How miserable she had been, lying quietly all day looking very sad. Our animals have no idea how safe and well cared for they are inside their barnyard in comparison to the world outside the fence. True, there is more green grass outside the fence, but they do not know that there are many poisonous plants to eat that would make them very sick. Besides that, there are cars and trucks on the road, plenty of space to become lost, and black bears roaming in and out of the yard. I rubbed my goat’s head again. “You’re much better off where you are,” I assured her, “so you stay right there.”

We too, have a type of fence around us. Our parents, our church, our school, and our biblical beliefs are as a fence placed to protect each one of us. When your parents say you aren’t allowed to watch those videos you heard about or remind you to pray in the morning, they are protecting you. When the minister in his sermon tells you that it is dangerous to forget your soul and that we were created to live to God’s honor and glory, his warning fences you in, giving you no right to live as you please. When the teacher at school describes how Daniel stood for what was right, that lesson is fencing you in. When you learn in catechism class that you should pray for a new heart and that Samuel was a happy boy serving God, it is as a protection not to live carelessly in the world around you. These are all teaching you that we have a place to live in this world but that we should not go along with everything in this world.

When we hear the word “world” mentioned in church, what does this mean? We all live in this world, our planet earth, but that is not what is meant. By the world is meant all the sinfulness and temptation that is found in it. The world is a danger for our souls when we follow and do things which are against God’s Word and law. The world can be attractive and appealing, yet very wrong.

Have you ever thought, “Boy, I wish I was allowed to do that?” Maybe your neighbor is allowed to ride his bike to town on Sunday. At school, he has all kinds of holiday parties, from Halloween dress-up to Easter egg hunts. The girl you know from club or camp wears nail polish and reads senseless books. She never sits down to dinner with her family to open and close the meal with reading and prayer. She has just one brother, so she doesn’t have handme- downs and always wears new, expensive, stylish clothes, and her parents are always busy working or planning the next exciting, beautiful vacation. It could be that you have thought, “I do wish we had fewer rules at our house. I think they have it easy, much easier than I do, and it looks like fun.”

Do you know what you are looking at? You are looking at the world. You are trying to peer over the fence, and it looks much better on the other side. God teaches you that all the blessings you have are well-meant callings to turn you to Him. He often lets you hear that you need to bow your knees and beg, “Lord, show me who I am. Please convert me while there is yet time …” The Lord has given you such a good place and such a safe guide on this earth, always teaching you by the Bible, but you are longing to join the sins of the world. You are dissatisfied. You are envious.

Your thoughts are the very opposite of what they should be. Pray the Lord that your thoughts may become, “Lord, why? Why may I have a baptized forehead, and all these others do not? Why am I allowed to hear His Word, and my neighbor does not? Why am I so protected? Why does the Lord not yet let me go?”

(To be continued next month)

*****

Use the hints provided to fill the missing words into the texts. Then fill them into the crossword puzzle.

1. “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have _________ you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” (unscramble: snheoc)

2. “From men which are Thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their _________ in this life, and whose belly Thou fillest with Thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.” (fill in the missing vowels: p __ rt __ __ n)

3. “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me _________ it hated you.” (unscramble: eobref)

4. “And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of _________, and of judgment.” (fill in the missing vowels: r __ ght __ __ __ sn __ ss)

5. “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the _________.” (definition: wicked, bad, wrong)

6 across. “And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the _________ to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” (definition: opposite of humble)

6 down. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may _________ what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (definition: demonstrate, show beyond doubt)

7. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall _________: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” (unscramble: irceeoj)

8. “I have given them Thy word; and the world hath hated them, _________ they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” (fill in the missing vowels: b __ c __ __ s __)

9. “And He shall judge the world in righteousness, He shall minister judgment to the _________ in uprightness.” (definition: another word for more than one person)

10. Unscramble the tiles to reveal a message. It begins with, “For what is a man …”

For the Older Children

Use the phrases in the box to complete the texts.

11. “Do ye not know that __________________________ _____________________”

12. “So shall it be at _______________________________ ________________: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just.”

13. “_______________________________________________ because of offences!”

14. “And this is the condemnation, that ___________ ____________________________________, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

15. “And be not ____________________________________ ___________: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

For the Younger Children

Use the numbers to find the missing word.

16. “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the _________________ (123456) of this world be cast out.”

17. “Even the Spirit of _________________ (72879); whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

18. “Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself _________________ (8470) us, and not unto the world?”

19. “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, _________________ (4637962) let it be afraid.”

20. “But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go _________________ (96456).”

Answers to last month’s “Eternity” quiz:

1. earth Psalm 90:2

2. testify John 5:39

3. established Psalm 93:2

4. righteousness Romans 5:21

5. never Mark 3:29

6. inherit Mark 10:17

7. temporal 2 Corinthians 4:18

8. your Psalm 24:7

9. eternity

10. blessed Psalm 41:13

11. righteousness Psalm 103:17

12. eternity Isaiah 57:15

13. foolish 1 Timothy 6:9

14. everlasting Matthew 25:46

15. believeth John 3:15

16. lose John 12:25

17. power John 17:2

18. life John 17:3

19. Simon Peter John 6:68

20. David 2 Samuel 23:5

21. the Lord Jesus John 17:3

22. the Good Shepherd John 10:28

23. Paul Romans 6:23

24. Peter 2 Peter 3:7


Please send your answers to the address shown below:
Aunt LenaBeth
180 Jacobs Road, Newfoundland, NJ 07435
Fax: 973-409-4549
E-mail: auntlenabeth@gmail.com


Answers to previous quizzes were received in March from:

Alyssa Arnoldussen (2)
Kaylee Arnoldussen (2)
Cassie Ball
Maddie Ball
Alaina Baum (2)
Alicia Baum (2)
Allan J. Baum (2)
Jeremy Baum (2)
Julie Baum
Alyssa Berkenbush
Dustyn Berkenbush
Kaylee Berkenbush (2)
Martena Blom
Willem Blom
Valerie Boeder
Garret Bouman (2)
Nicholas Bouman (2)
Stephanie Bouman
Bethany Bruinsma
Janessa Bruinsma
Samantha Bruinsma
Adrianna Byers (7)
Joseph Byers (7)
Serena Byers (7)
Bryce De Blieck
Kurtis De Boer
Julianna den Breejen
Kacie Driesen (2)
Sam Driesen (2)
Weston Ekema
Bereket Engelsma (4)
Kari Groen
Kurtis Groen
AdrianGroenendyk (2)
Jack Groenendyk
Jacoba Groenendyk (2)
John Groenendyk (2)
Andrew Hofman
Samuel Hofman
DanielHup
Arieta Keurhorst (3)
Derik Keurhorst (3)
Dwayne Keurhorst (2)
Stephanie Keurhorst (3)
Ashley Knibbe
Courtney Knibbe
Lindsey Knibbe
Arik Korevaar
Rebekah Korevaar
Rebecca Krygsman
Sarah Krygsman
Shaylen LeLoux
Lydia Mol
Maria Mol
Olivia Mol
Rachel Mol
Emma Okken
Joelynn Oskam
Madison Oskam
Jayden Overbeek (3)
Alec Post (2)
Hunter Post
Nate Post
Nicolas Post
Andrew Remijn
Arno Roos
Jelena Roos
Wilbert Roos
Jacob Ruissen
Kimberly Ruissen
Levi Ruissen
Mitchell Ruissen
Jacob Spaans
Tucker Spaans
Heidi Sporte
Kayelyn Sporte
Isaac Stam (2)
Evelyn Stubbe
Colin Ten Hove
Derek Teunissen
Joel Teunissen
Lydia Teunissen
Aaliyah Timmer
Arianna Timmer
Harley Timmer
Kadin Timmer
Sierra Timmer
Skye Timmer
Wyatt Timmer
Arielle Van Deuveren
Josephine Van Maanen
Katie Van Ravenswaay
Leah Van Ravenswaay
Cornell Vande Stroet
Jessa Vande Stroet
Lydia Vande Stroet
Gerrit Vanden Broek
Ian Vanden Broek
Lisa Vanden Broek
Treena Vanden Broek
Elaina Vander Waal
Jonathan Wesdyk
Laura Wesdyk
Rebekah Wesdyk
Marcail Ymker
Shauntae Ymker

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

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Bekijk de hele uitgave van maandag 1 mei 2017

The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's

The World

Bekijk de hele uitgave van maandag 1 mei 2017

The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's