Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
First, we'd like to apologize for being "off the air" for a few days. Our Internet provider has experienced an "outage" which covered a wide area. Hopefully, today the problems have been fixed.
May these little "morsels" of bread be a blessing to you. --The "Dial Daily Bread" Staff
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So often we hear parents tell sadly that one or more of their children are no longer in the church. They were raised in the church, went to Sabbath School, even church schools, Christian academies, etc., but now have drifted out into the world. These parents invariably say they are trusting to that promise in Isaiah 49:25, "I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children." Precious promise; but is there something we can do to cooperate with the Lord in this wonderful work of reclaiming lost youth?
The father of the prodigal son was an admirable man, but still his son rebelled. So we are not assured of 100 percent success. Even Jesus lost one of His twelve disciples, and almost lost Peter; the others forsook Him and fled. But there is a reason why we lose so many people, and the problem can be corrected.
It's the same one that ancient Israel had continually: the effects of the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant was the promise of the people to do everything just right when they promised in Exodus 19:8, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do."
For generations, we have always assured our children and youth, "Yes, the Lord will bless you; He will do this or that for you, provided you do your part!" Thus the basic idea that gets across to them is that the Lord is like a policeman; He won't bother you if you keep out of trouble. It's up to you to initiate a relationship with the Lord, and to maintain it; and if you don't, then He backs off and leaves you alone. The emphasis is on what you do to save yourself, not on what He has done and is doing to save you. What is the inevitable result? Dependence on self, and that leads to alienation from Christ. And then--wandering away.
Let's hope it's not too late to proclaim the New Covenant to the youth who have drifted away, but in the meantime let's give the New Covenant to the youth of today! They must know that Christ is their Savior 100 percent; nothing but that Good News will reconcile their alienated hearts to Him.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 16, 1997.
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