From the Pastor's Desk

The story is told of a young woman, who every time she would cook a lamb roast, she would cut the end off it before putting it in the oven. One day her husband asked her, “Honey why do you cut the end off the lamb roast?” The young women replied, “Well, I don’t know, that’s what my mum used to do”. Therefore, the husband said, “we’ll ring your mum, I want to know why”. So she called her mum and asked, “mum, why do you cut the end off the lamb roast?” Her mum responded “Well, I’m not quite sure but that’s what your grandma used to do”. So the young woman decided to do to a group call with her mother and grandmother to find out why they would cut the end off the lamb roast.  So they rang grandma, “Grandma why did you used to cut the end off the lamb roast?” The grandma replied “Well, honey, when I used to cook a lamb roast when I was young, our ovens weren’t very big so that was the only way we could fit the roast into the oven”. 

Two generations later and that family were still cutting the leg off the lamb roast—why? — because that’s what they saw. The young woman saw her mum do it while her mum saw her own mum do it. Now, I want you to think of some things that you do day-to-day, that you are not quite sure the reasons for doing it,  but you do it because you saw your parents do it.  I’m sure we all do many things without realising that we do it simply from observing others doing it. Think of a couple in a long-term relationship, slowly but surely you may see them begin to mirror each other’s behaviour. From words, to gestures and body movements, and sometimes after a long time spent together, they may even begin to look alike!  Almost every behaviour in the world comes from somewhere. In other words, sometimes our behaviour reflects the behaviour of earlier generations. The way we behave right now is having a lasting impact on our children, grandchildren and anyone that we spend large amounts of time with.

here’s no wonder God said the following to his people in the book of Deuteronomy;
“Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.  And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.  Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.  Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

The more time we spend with God the more we are going to become like Him and the more we are going to reflect God’s love to others. So, it's no secret that the way we love God and our neighbours, plays a major role in how those closest to us love God and love others. Friends, sometimes, we don’t realise the impact our behaviour has on other people. My prayer is that we reflect the love of Jesus every day, to everyone and everywhere you are.