Arrows into the Future – The Kingdom Curriculum IX (7)

Arrows into the Future

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16

“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” Deuteronomy 16:18-20

No Time Like the Present

Wisdom, righteousness, and the blessings of God: surely no one could want anything more for his family, community, or nation? Parents who live by such norms and raise their children to honor them and love the ways of the Lord will make a solid contribution to their communities and their nation for the generations to come. Government–and submitting to government–is a learned art; parents are the first civics teachers their children will ever know. Let us study to promote the high standards of God in all our efforts to raise our children as arrows into the future (Ps. 127).

But do we dare to insist that our public officials should be held to such high standards? Are we willing to allow the status quo to establish the terms and qualifications for public office? God’s Law is holy and righteous and good. We know this, but we also know that mentioning God’s Law in the public square is sure to bring out cries of “separation of church and state!” and assorted other idiocies on the part of those who refuse to be governed by God, no matter how good or righteous or just He may be (cf. Ps. 2). What then? Give up?

Here is a call for the people of God to be wise as serpents, harmless as doves, and clear-eyed about what we seek for our communities. Let us make it our daily quest to seek the wisdom of the Lord, so that we may understand how to bring the blessings of His Law to the people of our communities and our nation. We know this must begin with the Gospel; let us pray for boldness in proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God, and let us strive together for consistency in living that Gospel out before the watching world. This will give us a platform on which to argue graciously and prudentially for the wisdom and righteousness of God’s Law in all matters of civic concern and public policy.

God’s Law has so much wisdom, justice, and righteousness to bless our children and the people of our communities. Let us seek Him for grace and wisdom, therefore, in knowing how to raise our children and work for the good of our neighbors in the public square.

Daily meditation in God’s Law is the mark of a righteous person (Ps. 1). Order your copy of The Law of God today, and begin to discover the beauty, goodness, and truth of God’s Law for yourself. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.