Seek Ye Out the Old Paths

For those of you who may be wondering if I have fallen of the face of the earth . . . I thought I would let you know that I am still here! Maybe not here in the blog sphere, but still alive. : )

Last night my family and I were watching The Waltons again. During one part of the episode Grandma told John-Boy about the first time she was kissed.

He asked, "How did that make you feel?"

She replied, "Well I thought I was going to have a baby!"

John-Boy laughs.

"Don't laugh at me."

"I'm not laughing at you Grandma, I'm just wondering how you could be so innocent and still be kissed."

Grandma said, "Well he took me by surprise."

"I can see Grandpa doing that."

"Well . . . it wasn't your Grandpa who kissed me first. It was someone else."

"Does he know that? Have you told him?" John-Boy asks.

"No! Do you think I would tell him that I was kissed before I was married? No! And you better not tell him either."

What innocence! I couldn't help but laugh when Grandma said she thought she was going to have a baby! If that was the case, there would be even more pregnancies out of wedlock.

I still believe God wants me to save my first kiss for my wedding day. A lot of Christians don't believe this anymore, but I do. Mama has told me many times about the temptations kissing will bring along. I don't know from experiance, but I belive her words of wisdom because she has been there before. The Bible says to "hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother." (Pro. 1:8) The Bible also says "Thus sayeth the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. . ." (Jeremiah 6:16) In the old days, it was shameful to be kissed before marriage. A kiss was a sacred thing saved for marriage. That's the way it should be. I know we are all flesh and we may not keep this commitment, but we should at least try our best.

So on my wedding day, adorned in pure white by the grace of God, I hope to recieve my first kiss without any feelings of guilt! Ah, that must be a glorious feeling!

Old Fashioned or Biblical Principles?

Recently I had a very thought provoking discussion with one of my coworkers on morals. She was telling another girl that she can’t blame her daughter if she gets pregnant out of wed-lock, because she did it herself, and hasn’t done much to discourage her daughter from follow in her footsteps. The woman that was telling her this said, “I’m old fashioned. I believe women shouldn’t get pregnant out of wed-lock. That’s just the way I am. My mother was real strict like that too.”

As I began to think about it, I realized that is how most people see morals and standards. They think they are old fashioned, not meant for the modern day that we live in. Are they old fashioned? Should we put them aside and consider them as a thing of the past? Or are they Biblical principles that have been forgotten amongst all the wickedness that is in this world?

There once was a day when a girl was ashamed to be pregnant before marriage. In those days, married couples stayed together because they promised to “love and cherish till death do us part.” Women use to stay home to care after their husband and children. Women use to dress like ladies. There was a time when the thought of killing unborn babies was appalling.

Now it is common for young girls to have several children without even thinking about getting married. Divorce is not considered wrong at all so men and women leave their spouse without even trying to resolve the problem. When you tell others that all you want to be when “you grow up” is a stay at home wife and mother, you get a blank stare. When people see you dressed in skirts on a day other than Sunday or Wednesday they think you are Amish or Mennonites. (I have nothing against those two groups, but I simply am not one of them.) Modern society has accepted abortion, and all those who oppose are considered “to old fashioned.”

Yes, I believe morals and standards are old fashioned. But they are still Biblical principles too. They are still right, and still need to be preached all over the world, but let’s face it, it is not popular to live for God. It is not fashionable. It is not respected. Godly living is not widely practiced anymore.

How did this come about? How can a nation accept the murdering of babies and all the other sins that are going rampant? The devil is smart. He knows just how to squeeze those sins in where people will accept them. If he can get sin into a respected person’s home, no one will say anything because of who the person is. Everyone starts to see that if it is okay for that person, it must be okay for themselves as well. Once a family sees that their daughter has committed an awful sin, they make it seem like a small matter because they don’t want to think that their loved one is wrong. Everyone stops speaking against adultery, divorce, and abortion because they don’t want to offend their family member who is guilty of such iniquities. Slowly, everyone becomes accustomed to these ways.

But just because the majority of the world chooses to live opposite of what God wants doesn’t mean that we can follow them. In fact, it should give us a desire to live for him even more because this world needs to see that there are still some Christians out there who want to live for God. We need to stand up for what we believe. Don’t be ashamed to tell everyone that you want to be a stay at home wife and mother. Don’t let those around you get the impression that you think it is okay to be pregnant out of wed-lock. Even if those in high positions at your church have done wrong, you can’t overlook it as a small matter.

Sin is sin and it will always be sin. It is not fun to be opposing, but if a time comes that we have to say something, we have to say what is right . . . in love. We cannot let godly living become obsolete.

“Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Ephesians 5:10-11