We pay homage and heartfelt tribute to the dedication of Christian men and women, in their great calling to enlighten our young people in the tenets of our faith. These folks enlighten our kids and all who ‘search’, not only in the “faith”, but also in what it means to eventually live their lives as responsible and mature adults in the world today. Goodness knows how sorely lacking we are in that regard in our nation and throughout the world. These teachers are not unlike the disciples of Christ.
Education, after all, is about forming the human person and imparting knowledge and wisdom. Is true wisdom not about knowledge of God?
As a young boy, I was taught by dedicated men and women who had taken sacred vows to devote their lives to the service of God. I am forever grateful to them, and I give thanks and praise to God for their great calling. These men and women consecrated their lives to God through loving and faithful witness to Christ, the supreme Teacher.
Our teachers provided us with hope….”For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” [Romans 8:24-25].
Like Jesus’ deciples, many of these teachers, including our host, carried the truth of the Gospels to far-off lands with Spirit inspired missionary zeal.
The Bible is replete with testimony on the virtue of hope. “Hope” is a recurring word in the Bible. We find, in several passages, that, the words “faith” and “hope” are interchangeable….”But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: [1 Peter 3:15]
Note: ( ”Fear” in the Biblical sense is defined as, awe and reverence of and to God).
Paul makes clear to the Ephesians, that, before their encounter with Christ, they were “…strangers from the covenants of promise, having, no hope, and without God in the world: [Ephesians 2:12]
To the Thessalonians, Paul says: “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” [1 Thessalonians 4:13]
Christians know, (many in general terms), that they have a future in Christ…they know that their lives will not end in emptiness. The “dark” door of the future has been opened to us, presently, in Christ Jesus. God bless all those who have selflessly imparted this wisdom to others, and who have resolved to lead us to Him.
In Ephesians 2:12 Paul reminds his listeners that, prior to encountering Christ, they were, “…strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”
Then, as now, Christians were joyful and confident in their belief in a glorious future. Then, as now, they had no idea regarding the details of the reward which awaited them. But they knew, as do we, that, in Jesus Christ, their lives would not end in emptiness.
The “door” of the future is opened to us in our magnificent hope. Accordingly, we live differently, joyfully anticipating the gift of a new life…a gift we are promised as a result of our personal encounter with Jesus Christ…an encounter we must, as Christians, extend to many others. The hope which has redeemed us , we cannot keep to ourselves. We cannot fail to show it to many among us who yearn for the Truth.
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