Living the Spirit-Formed Life by Jack Hayford

Author:Jack Hayford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christian Living;REL012120;REL023000;REL079000
ISBN: 9781441231178
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2017-05-26T00:00:00+00:00

I Was About Eleven Years Old

The importance of integrity of heart was impressed upon me as a child. I first related the following incident in my book A Man’s Integrity, a study of how men can develop godly character.

When I was a boy, my mother had a special means for dealing with each of us children—my brother, my sister and me. Whenever Mama thought any of us might be tempted to be less than truthful because of the pressure of a situation where possible correction might have followed an honest confession, she would take a precautionary step. Instead of simply asking, “Did you do (such and such)?” she would preface the question with a statement. This statement had a very sobering effect on me, because it so vividly taught the reality of my accountability to be truthful in the eyes of God. Mama would say, “I’m going to ask you a difficult question, Jack. But before I do, I want to say, I’m asking it in front of Jesus.”

She was not playing games.

She was not threatening.

She was not using a religious ploy to cajole us.

In our house we took the Lord seriously. Our home was a happy place to live, but we really believed in the genuine nature of God’s love, His kindness, His blessing, His salvation in Christ and the beautiful truth of His Word. And when Mama would say, “in front of Jesus,” a powerful image would come to my mind.

We all knew that God is everywhere, all the time. But there was a unique sense of the immediacy of the living Lord when those words were spoken. I could imagine Jesus seated on a throne immediately to my left as I stood face-to-face with my mother and prepared to hear the question she had to ask.

A Visit to Richie’s House

I had come home from a friend’s house one afternoon, having spent most of the morning with Richie—a kid a few months older than I who lived across the street. We played together a lot, so there was no reason for Mama to think anything unusual had happened when I (then eleven) came home that day.

But the next morning, as I was about to leave for school, I learned that my mother had felt something upon my return home from Richie’s the day before.

I had just finished my breakfast and was about to leave the kitchen to get my school things when my mother turned from the kitchen sink and, while drying her hands, said, “Jack, I want you to wait a minute. I need to talk with you.” Her voice had that tone all children recognize in their parents when the issue is sobering and the consequences might be undesirable. I stood there, nervously waiting for what she was going to say.

“Son, when you came home from Richie’s yesterday, I had a very strange feeling go through me.” She paused thoughtfully. “At first I didn’t know what to do about it. Then I prayed last night, and I believe the Lord showed me simply to do what I’m doing right now.

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