STECI Youth Board

How great are your works, O Lord, how profound your thoughts! The  senseless  man  does  not  know,  fools  do  not  understand… - Ps: 92: 5, 6  The ability to evaluate oneself and take corrective action is an important tool for all of us and if we cannot do that, it is difficult, to genuinely understand and appreciate the effort of others. Very often assimilation of knowledge and the ability to apply it, is hindered, since our organs have become ‘senseless’. Becoming senseless inhibits our responsiveness. Our Lord narrates the story of the prodigal son who decided to go away from his loving father. When he thought he was far away he decided to spend all that he had on wild living. His was a ‘riches to rags’ story! Finally when he was reduced to taking care of pigs, the Bible says ...He came to his senses - Lk 15: 17. The sense organs provided to every human being include eyes, ears, tongue, nose, and skin. The sense organs are t...

God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. - Gen 1: 4  The first act of creation out of chaos was light. God saw that the light was good and immediately proceeded to ‘separate’ the light from the darkness. Light facilitates the ability to see, appreciate and work effectively. God continued his act of creation and later we see that God placed a greater light to ‘rule’ the day and a lesser light to ‘rule’ the night - cf. Gen 1: 18, KJV. Light brought clarity to the earth and her inhabitants. The greater light (sun) and the lesser lights (moon and other heavenly bodies) provided both illumination as well as direction. The best example of the light providing illumination and direction is our Lord and Christ. Everybody including intellectuals, rulers, the poor found light and direction when they looked to Jesus. Light shining through, dispels darkness, wickedness, wrong intentions, and wrong attitudes. When we live as channels, of God working t...

… And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground - Gen 4: 2, KJV The passage helps us to study the attitude of the first two brothers. Abel is called a ‘keeper’ of sheep, while Cain is called a ‘tiller’ of the ground. God had placed their father Adam in the Garden of Eden and assigned two responsibilities - And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it - Gen 2: 15. To dress it means to till, to keep it means to give it attention and care.  Adam’s son, Abel kept flocks - 4: 2 - a shepherd devotes all his attention to his flocks and is a sacrificial care giver. His son, Cain ‘worked the soil’ - the contrast between devotion to a God given task as against the drudgery of work could not be more apparent. God was pleased with Abel’s offering and he gives Cain reasons for his displeasure - ‘if you do well, will you not be accepted’. Abel did well in giving care to his flock and his approach led him to give a bett...