A College Send-off...

Al, my youngest son, leaves for college this week.  He was baptized as an infant, and, of my three sons, he's the only one who was homeschooled since kindergarten.  He's my baby.

And he's ready for college.  My approach to homeschooling, from the beginning, was to teach and prepare my sons with the knowledge and learning that I wished I'd had before college.

It was an ambitious plan, but a "plan" no less.

And I tell young homeschoolers, "Don't look at what other people do.  Look at your children, your strengths.  And remember your end goal.  Education takes time, and children learn at different levels.  Enjoy it."

That being said, my greatest enjoyment has been seeing Al grow as a Christian. 

Al reads the Bible every day.  He's read the Lutheran Confessions, and numerous other Lutheran theology and Christian books.  I can't keep up with him!

And just yesterday he said, "I finished reading Broken and I was putting it back on the shelf when The Lutheran Difference and The Hammer of God [by Bo Giertz] fell on my foot."


The Hammer of God fell on his foot!  Are you kidding me?!! 

Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?  Jeremiah 23:29

We all have life experiences, both normal events and out-of-the ordinary trials, and God's Word is like a hammer that crushes us in the midst of it, and then brings life.  

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  Hebrews 4:12

God's Word is wisdom; God's Word is truth; it's comfort; it's hope.  It's what we live on; it's life.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.  Matthew 4:4

My pastor once said, "God's Word always nourishes.  God's Word is never without effect."  

That's so true.  God's Word creates faith, grows it, and sustains it.

I know the law and my sins thru His Word, and, I know the gospel, the Good News of Jesus, thru His Word. 

And I think of Al...actually having the Hammer of God, the book, hit him...and I think of God's Word, the genuine Hammer, hitting him, each day, and leaving it's mark, affecting his life. 

Blessed is the man...[whose] delight is in the law of the LORD...Psalm 1:1-2

There's no better college send-off than to be hit by the Hammer of God.

Throughout our days, may the Hammer of God fall on each of us, and continue to do so, until that day when we leave this life and join our Lord. 
Amen.