My middle son, who is the ripe old age of thirteen right now, shared with me yesterday his favorite book in the Bible – Leviticus. He specifically pointed out to me the scripture that talks about “the aged” (19:32). He smiled at me and said, “Yeah, that’s about respect. I like that a lot.”
Leviticus, huh? Wow. For him to say this is his favorite book may seem odd to people who don’t know him. I mean, out of ALL the books, this one? Any non-beleiver could have a field day in this book, given the generation in which it was written, extracting a few words, here and there without paying concern to the context in which it was written. And it isn’t difficult for believers to get a little overwhelmed or confused by the passages within this book. Knowing my son, though, I understand perfectly why this is his favorite book – it’s full of tangible rules, sort of. You know: “Do This”. “Don’t Do This.” Stuff like that. My son is quite literal in his communication, and he reads, feels, and interprets in this way most all the time. Believe me, this has lead to some interesting parent-teacher conferences before!
So now, knowing how intrigued my son is by the words in Leviticus, I’m sure some interesting discussions are coming up around the bend. My in depth study begins, so that I can hopefully remain one step ahead when the questions come. What a wonderful opportunity this is!
Back to that particular scripture, though – 19:32. It is interesting that he singled this one out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m GLAD it was this one, instead of the number of others he could have pointed out that may have caught me off guard, like any that include unlawful or immoral relations, for instance. He’s a teenager, so I’ll not avoid these subjects, but I’m thankful he didn’t start with those. Anyway, doing the “self-taught analyzation” that I do so well (be sure to back up and read that again with the sarcastic tone I intended to imply), I began looking into our family life to see if there are any specific things that would make this particular verse so special to him. Do we have elderly people in our lives? Yes. My mom, who has been undergoing chemotherapy for more than a year, has spent extended weeks of time with us during the course of treatment. My dad doesn’t live to far away, and we really don’t see him nearly as often as we should. There’s Ms. Dorothy who lives on the corner. She’s a delight to speak to when we pass by. I often have one of the boys run down to her house with a bag of cucumbers or a dish from our dinner. There’s Ms. Mattie at church, among a number of other older people, who love to see our handsome young boys at church events and on Sunday mornings. Pretty much all of the teachers have been older. Oh, and there was Ms. Pat from the grocery store…
Wait a minute! For a thirteen year old., most everyone outside of school friends meet the criteria of “aged”!
How wonderful to realize that my son is experiencing the joy of obedience. In Leviticus, he received confirmation to what he already knew made his heart happy…..because it is pleasing to our Savior. It’s that very thing that makes this his favorite book. Joy in obedience. It’s just beautiful.
the toenail 