Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

February 28
Sunday


THE COUNTRY
OF OLD AGE

READ:
Mark 7:1-13
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If anyone does not
provide for his own,
...[he] is worse than
an unbeliever.
__1 Timothy 5:8
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In the book Another Country, author Mary Pipher met with people in their seventies, eighties, and nineties who were confronting many different life situations.

"I wanted...to understand the country of old age," Pipher writes. "We are not organized in a way that makes aging easy." The root problem, she observed, is that young and old have become segregated, to the detriment of both groups.

This social trend is not necessarily intentional. But many people do ignore and shirk their responsibilities for the elderly. In Jesus' day, the Pharisees found creative ways to avoid their family duties. In Mark 7:9-13, Jesus rebuked their common practice of dedicating their material possessions to God (declaring them as Corban) rather than using their assets to provide for their parents. Their tradition had violated the commandment to honor their father and their mother.

Our children, work, and church activities can pull us in many directions. But that doesn't excuse us from honoring our aging parents by making provision for their needs, as much as we are able (1 Tim. 5:8). When the time comes for us to enter the country of old age, let's hope we've set the right example for our own children to follow. __Dennis fisher
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``````````````````Providing for our parents' needs````````````````
````````````````With loving words and selfless deeds``````````````
`````````````````Is what the Lord expects of those````````````````
`````````````Who try to follow where He leads. __Sper``````````````
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Honoring our parents is learned by example.

****************Today's Bible Reading __ Mark 7:1-13************

1 Then the Pharisees and
some of the scribes came
together to Him, having
come from Jerusalem. 2 Now
when they saw some of His
disciples eat bread with
defiled, that is, with
unwashed hands, they found
fault. 3 For the Pharisees and
all the Jews do not eat unless
they wash their hands in a
special way, holding the
tradition of the elders.

4 When they come from the
marketplace, they do not eat
unless they wash. And there
are many other things which
they have received and hold,
like the washing of cups,
pitchers, copper vessels, and
couches.

5 Then the Pharisees and
scribes asked Him, "Why do
You disciples not walk
according to the tradition of
the elders, but eat bread with
unwashed hands?"

6 He answered and said to
them, "Well did Isaiah
prophesy of you hypocrites,
as it is written: 'This people
honors Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from
Me. 7 And in vain they
worship Me, teaching as
doctrines the commandments
of men.'

8 "For laying aside the
commandment of God, you
hold the tradition of men--
the washing of pitchers and
cups, and many other such
things you do."

9 He said to them, "All too
well you reject the
commandment of God, that
you may keep your tradition.

10 For Moses said, 'Honor
your father and your mother';
and, 'He who curses father or
mother, let him be put to
death.' 11 But you say, 'If a
man says to his father or
mother, "Whatever profit
you might have received
from me is Corban"--' (that
is, a gift to God), 12 then you
no longer let him do anything
for his father or his mother,

13 making the word of God of
no effect through your
tradition which you have
handed down. And many
such things you do."