My wife is from the Philippines, where higher education is seen as the path to a good job and the way to get out of poverty. Parents work hard and sacrifice to send their children to school, hoping they will succeed and be able to care for them in their old age. With no social safety net to care for the poor and elderly, getting a good job is literally a matter of life and death.
That is why my wife is always trying to instill in my grandchildren the need to study hard in school, so they can attend college. Though a college education isn’t as critical in the US as it is in the Philippines, a good education has its benefits. Grandma doesn’t stop at talk; she sacrifices now to help with their education and will sacrifice even more to help them attend college.
At their young age, my grandchildren don’t worry about the future and think it’s funny that Grandma gets so excited about college. When she says “you don’t want to flip burgers for a living” my grandson insists he does. At 13, the thought of working in a fast-food restaurant seems like a good job. He doesn’t understand the impact low pay would have on his future. He works for his other Grandpa and makes a little money, which goes a long way because he lives at home and his parents feed and clothe him. Grandma knows he needs to do better, so she will continue to encourage him and our other grandchildren for their own good.
My granddaughter was excited to tell Grandma that she wants to go to college. The news impressed Grandma until she said her goal was to become a manicurist. Sophia doesn’t understand that Grandma wants her to set higher goals than that. College could enable her to open a nail salon or a number of them and employ many manicurists, if she works hard and learns how to run a business. She wants our grandkids to do better for their own good.
That is something like how GOD looks out for us. He knows the terrible consequences of sin and calls us to turn unto righteousness. Throughout the Old Testament He sent prophets to warn people to change or they would suffer the consequences. He blessed them when they obeyed and punished them when they failed, but they still didn’t get the message. Knowing we could never meet His high expectations, He made a way to save us from our own sin. The world didn’t really understand, but they needed to be saved for their own good.
GOD didn’t stop at talk; He “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV). He freely offers this precious gift to us, but it came at a great cost to Him. We didn’t know we needed salvation, but “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8 KJV). He died for many who will never accept His sacrifice, but He did it for their own good.
Ok, I accepted JESUS and will go to Heaven when I die, so that’s it, right? Salvation is only the beginning of what GOD has for you. JESUS said, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12 KJV). After salvation, the greatest work you can do is to tell others they need to accept JESUS for their own good!
Wayne Lance (2019)