"I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first
lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded,
now lives in you also" (2 Timothy
1:5)
It’s possible that Lois -
the grandmother of Paul’s travelling companion Timothy – may have been one of
the 3,000 converted to Christ on the day of Pentecost. Whatever the background
of Timothy’s faith, his had the bond of old-time religion about it - going back
three generations.
This is a pattern of Bible
Christianity down the centuries. John Newton of the eighteenth century, even in
his worst days at sea as a slave-trader, could never forget his godly mother
who had taught him to pray before she died, when he was eight years old.
“What women these Christians
have!” exclaimed Libanius, the fourth century Greek teacher of Rhetoric. Among
Libanius’ students was John Chrysostom, the ‘golden-mouthed preacher of
Constantinople’ as he became known. Chrysostom’s mother, Anthusa, lost her
husband at twenty, and from then on devoted her energy to the education of one
of the most renowned of all early Christian leaders. There’s something about
‘grandmotherly religion’ that can get passed on down the generations.
Think of the renowned
hymn-writer, Fanny Crosby of New England, who lost her sight at six weeks
old. It was her Puritan
grandmother who helped her to ‘see’ the world through her mind, and then helped
her to know the Bible. By the time Fanny was twelve, she knew the first five
books of the Bible by heart, all four Gospels and all the psalms. Out of this rich storehouse poured the
hymns -‘Blessed Assurance,’ ‘To God be the Glory’ – over eight thousand in
all.
Oh, there’s a vital role
for dads and grandpas to play! But the big principle to take in today is that
matters of faith and service are caught as much as taught. And the home
is the best school of all.
--ooOoo--
