Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is older he will not depart.

King Solomon, from Proverbs

 

Anyone who has ever been on a good team will understand. In order to have quality results, you have to put in quality effort. 

 

We all expect hard work from our children when it comes to the activities that we consider most important. If they are in school, we want them to work for the highest grade thay are capable of. If they are in an excellent band program, we will want them to put in excellent work. If they are raising pigs or sheep to show in the 4-H stock show, then we expect them to put in the daily hard work that will allow them to excel. And if they are representing the schools team in athletics we expect them to be at every practice. Furthermore, we expect those practices to be every day of the school week. We will hold our children to these high standards even though they be just children, for we are training them to be something special in life.

 

These are good and proper standards to hold, and few people who understand the price of excellence will dispute this.

 

But when it comes to the worship with the church, combined with the Bible classes the church may offer, hard work and quality effort are often lacking. Add to that any sort of daily daily devotions such as Bible reading and prayer, and even the best of parents may consider this a bit too much. After all, kids need some time to be kids, don't they? After their homework, band and athletic practices, chores with the 4-H animals, and all of the rest of the really important things that they do, they are going to need a break.

 

And so we train up our children to become excellent citizens of the world, but we sometimes fail to prepare them to be servants of God. Servants, by the way whose souls will spend an eternity somewhere. Why do we do that? Maybe it's because we have put in so much hard work to become citizens of this world ourselves. 

 

And then, we as the same parents who would be so upset if little Johnny and sweet Suzy didn't put in their best efforts to get a star on their papers or a pretty pig at the big show, wake up some day to find that we have failed to prepare them for the most important task that they will ever have: To be a servant of God and Christ!

 

If this is you, welcome to the club! We all have taken our eye off the ball in the training up of our children at one time or another. The important thing now is to do something about it. It will take excellent preparation, hard work and quality effort. It will be hard! But it is our duty! And since we love our children nearly as much as God Himself loves them, then we will put in that hard work because their souls are worth it. And God and Jesus are worth it. 

 

So, let's put the mistakes of the past behind us and get to the hard but fulfilling work of training up our children for God. We will never regret this preparing of our children for the most important endeavor they will ever take part in.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, Satan also came among them... And the LORD sais to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil." Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Hast thou not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side?"

Job 1:6, 8-10, NASB

 

Thus begins one of the most unusual events in all of the Bible. This scene is like no other that we read, for Satan presents himself to God with those who appear to be angels. There are only two other instances when Satan is so overtly present. First, in the Garden of Eden when he tempts the woman and is held accountable by God. The second, is in the temptation of Christ, where Satan fails in his attempt to subvert the Son of God. And though we read of various instances of the evil one in the Book of Revelation, these three are unique as to the extent of interaction described as having occurred within the physical bounds of this world in which we live. 

 

In this account, we see God questioning Satan as to whether he was aware of God's righteous servant Job. Our preacher Josh Duncan pointed out just this past Sunday that Satan was indeed aware of Job, and he also raised the question as to whether Satan has considered God's servants today. Josh further opined that Satan probably was aware of all those who are attempting to be righteous.

 

I had never thought of that before, but it is certainly worthy of consideration. When you consider the multitude of temptations that we come across on a daily basis, you have to admit that the Devil is alive and working to subvert God's servants to this very day. And whether he is able to do this as personally as when he tempted Eve, Job, and Jesus, or whether he has just set the wheels in motion for the things that tempt us today, the effect is still the same: For we all yield to these temptations more than we care to think about.

 

This would be frightening beyond words, if it were not for this one fact: God looks down upon the righteous and gives them all the protection they need! As we read through the Bible we cannot help but notice the numerous times that the writers proclaims that God watches over the righteous. In fact, this is one of the most comforting themes of the Bible, and we would do well to pay attention. 

 

Jesus Himself used the protection of God when He told Satan to "get behind" Him. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:31, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" He also wrote in Philippians 4:13, "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." The point is that though Satan still has the power to tempt the world, God is still there to provide safety and protection to all who would seek Him. But we do need to be aware of the Devil's schemes to subvert God's servants and, once alerted to this fact, be quick to seek God's protection. 

 

Too many people cower in fear at the prospect of Satan, but we do not have to because the One who watches over us is more powerful than the one who tempts us with evil. There needs to be a daily awareness of the fact that our enemy the Devil really does prowl around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (I Peter 5:7), but we also need to know that we can resist him by standing firm in the faith (I Peter 5:8). By standing firm and trusting in God to protect us, we need not worry about the evil one, for God truly will watch over those who place themselves in His protective care. Isn't God good!

Much if this will be familiar to those of you who have been visiting this page for a while, but there are some brand new resources that I would like to introduce you to for those who may be new to this website, or to the Common Sense Christian and 30 Day Bible Challenge Facebook pages.

 

My name is Rick Bloodworth and I began the commonsensechristian.com website in 2010. I had been a preacher in the small town of Happy, Texas for 15 years and was noticing a need for wholesome, Bible based messages that didn't take a lot of time to read, but which would provide an encouraging word from a practical point of view. There were already an abundance of websites that seemed to focus on gloom and doom, or which highlighted the doctrinal differences that seem to be a hallmark of our modern day world, and I wanted to have something that was a bit more positive - something that would unite Christians in our common goal of serving our Lord and Savior.

 

About eight years ago, with much help from my wife Carolyn and our children, we started the 30 Day Bible Challenge, a simple method of reading through the New Testament in a month's time. This challenge seemed to hit a responsive chord, and it quickly expanded to a 90-day commitment to study the New Testament, followed by four separate 30-day challenges for reading through the Old Testament. Since that time, more than 400 churches have taken the challenge and we have sent out over 100,000 of the challenges to various churches and individuals. 

 

It got to where it was keeping Carolyn and I so busy just staying up with that effort, that we made plans to retire from the local work (I say "we" because a good preacher's wife such as the one I have has nearly as much work as the preacher). So, I turned in my "five-year notice", and stepped down from full-time preaching in October of 2023. Since that time I have been working on getting a YouTube channel and a podcast channel started, something that we finally got up and running a few weeks ago. Both channels are called "Common Sense Christian" and you can find them on YouTube and Spotify at the present time.  

 

Before going any further, I do want to be clear as to why we chose the name "Common Sense Christian". It was not because I think that I have so much common sense, but because I am convinced that the Christian life is the most common sense way to live. Further, it is the common sense instruction contained within the pages of the inspired Bible that guides the Christian in leading his or her life in this wise path.

 

Since most of you are reading this on Facebook or the website, I won't go into anymore detail on the written articles, but I did want to describe the format of the new YouTube and podcast channels. At the present, I am planning on having 4 episodes a week that will typically range from 15 to 30 minutes in length. On Sunday's at 7:00 AM, I will have a Bible themed message that will contain a positive and inspirational lesson designed to encourage and make you think about your service to God and Christ. For lack of imagination, these episodes will be called, "Sunday Sermons". As with all of the episodes, once it is on the site, it will be available for viewing at any time you find convenient.

 

On each Tuesday I will be doing lessons about the nation in which most of you who will be watching actually live - America. If you are like me you will have noticed that our nation has been on a destructive path for a number of years and, like me, you are probably concerned about that direction. These episodes, however, will not be as focused upon the problems as much as on the solutions. By looking at the history of the United States and her founders, I believe we can have a much better frame of reference as to the impressive start that this once righteous nation had. By looking at the lives of the godly patriots who started this nation, I believe we can become inspired as to how we can help take this nation in a better direction. These episodes will be under the category of "Patriot Tuesday". 

 

On Thursdays, I will have a message that is based on stories that are positive in nature and that will help us think about how we can better live. These stories will be selected from various sources that I have found to be both inspiring and motivational. I always enjoyed listening to old radio broadcasts by men such as Paul Harvey and Earl Nightingale. I have loved their positive and thought provoking messages and I hope to have a similar theme in these programs. We have so many sources of programs that focus on the harshness of life that we often miss out on its beauty, and I hope to spend a little more time "smelling the roses" in these programs. These episodes will be called "Story Teller's Thursday".

 

Finally, I also want to address the economic realities in which we live and provide some practical ideas as to how to address these difficulties. My education was in Business Administration for my undergraduate studies, and my Master's Degree is in Finance and Economics. That combined with my work as a real estate appraiser for over a dozen years, and my career as an overpaid preacher on a mostly low paying income, have given me additional experiences that I hope might help you, at least in the area of avoiding the multitude of financial mistakes I have made along the way, These episodes will cover everything from common sense prepping, to budgeting on various levels of income, to ideas on a range of savings and investment strategies, as well as ideas as to how we might actually retire some day. These episodes will be under the category entitled "Financial Friday".

 

I appreciate so very much all of you who have taken time out of your busy days to read these articles, and I hope that you will check out these new channels to find out if they might also help you in some small way. I am convinced that we need to be realistic about the world in which we live, but I am convinced that we truly need to be optimistic about the future. After all, by God's grace, we are planning on going to Heaven someday, aren't we? Why not enjoy the journey and do our best to help as many along the way as possible while we are at it?   

Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be 120 years."

Genesis 6:3, NAS

 

Within this passage is found the reason for the flood. Since man's thoughts had become only evil all the time, God decided that they could not remain in this state much longer. While some believe that the 120 years mentioned above was in reference to the shortened life span that mankind would eventually receive, many believe that God was saying that the world had only 120 years left to repent, and then He would bring the flood to wipe out sinful men.

 

If that is indeed the explanation of the 120 years, then Noah would have been 480 years old at this time. We are told in chapter 7 that he was 600 when the flood came, and we are told in chapter 5 that his sons, were born after he was 500 years of age. If Noah began building the ark pretty soon after God had determined that He was going to bring the flood in 120 years, then his sons would have been born after the construction of the ark had begun.

 

"Well, thanks for the math lesson", you might be thinking, but what is the point? The point is that for the entirety of Shem, Ham, and Japheth's lives, they would have seen their father building the ark. Further, knowing what we know about parents and their children, it is highly probable that the boys got to help their father with the building of the ark.

 

This means that these young men would have been active in the process that would would result in their own salvation, as well as the salvation of their wives whom they married prior to the flood. 

 

And there is a vital lesson in all of this for parents today. Not only do we have the responsibility to prepare our children for salvation, but we have the duty to make sure that the kids are also taking part in that process!

 

So, what does that look like? I believe it begins by praying with our kids and reading Bible stories to them when they are very young. I believe it means taking them to the worship and Bible classes as often as we possibly can, even before they are old enough to know what is going on. But, having done that during their formative years, we have the further obligation to get them involved. That means encouraging them to pray on their own. That means helping them to see the need for doing their own personal Bible reading and studies. That means making sure that they come to a stage of maturity wherein they are getting themselves up out of bed on Sunday morning and getting ready for the worship - and all of this without whining, complaining, or the necessity of threats from the parents.

 

These things are not easy, nor do they just "happen". These things require not only proper training, but also an imparting of sound and convincing reasons for them to do so. I'm sure that you will agree that this may not be easy, but it is necessary. I doubt that the training of Noah's sons was easy either. After all, he would have been introducing them to a lifetime of extremely hard and exacting work. I can only imagine the conversations that Noah and his wife must have had with their boys to train them up in the right way, but we know that they accomplished this.

 

We also know that the result was the completion of an ark, according to God's precise instructions, that became an instrument that helped save their physical lives. Of course, God had the most important part of helping this family to survive the destruction that befell the rest of the world. But the family had to do their part for this to happen. In a like fashion, God will do the "heavy lifting" to ensure that we have what we need for salvation, but we have our part to do as well. And this will require that we get our family involved, from the youngest of ages, so that they can take on their expected part of God's wonderful plan of salvation.

 

Is your family involved? If not, now would be a good time to start!