Pass it On

Devotion for the Week...

My great-grandfather came to Canada with his family from Lebanon when he was young, so my grandmother grew up eating lots of traditional Lebanese foods. She still makes some of them, but the only one I really like to eat is something we grew up calling flat tires. I'm sure that's a mangled version of their proper name, but I don't know what that proper name would be. I do know they are delicious.

Flat tires fresh from the oven! I made 9 dozen today.

The filling is ground beef, tomatoes, onions and spices and it is wrapped in bread dough.

They are so delicious, in fact, that when I got married and moved too far away to have access to Nanny's flat tires, I had to learn to make my own. They take a lot of time, but I love having them in my freezer for quick and simply meals when I don't really want to cook. Zachary likes taking them to school for lunch. Nanny passed on the making of flat tires to me because it was something she did that I wanted to be able to do too.

I hope my faith will appeal to others in the same way.

Writing to Timothy, Paul said, "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). Nowhere does Paul tell us what these two women did to pass on their faith to Timothy. So how did they do it? How can we pass on our faith to others?

If you think about how to pass on a love for anything, be it for a particular food (like flat tires) or a hobby (like quilting or reading), there are similarities. Most importantly, you have to love it for yourself first. Nanny still makes flat tires often, and she makes 13 or so dozen at a time. She even makes them to sell. I've never heard her complain about making them, or saying she wished she didn't have to make them. Seeing her do it so often, and hearing her say how easy it is, made me willing to try it for myself. That was the beginning of my flat tire making.

Paul says the faith first lived in Lois and Eunice. They had a deep faith that permeated their entire lives. Do we have that sort of faith, a faith that lives in us? Or is our faith only superficial, more a matter of saying we believe, but not allowing that belief to take over our lives?

Paul also described their faith as 'sincere.' This makes me think their words and their actions matched up. They didn't only talk about the importance of loving and serving others, they loved and served whenever the opportunity arose. They taught Timothy to love Jesus and to desire to live in a manner pleasing to God by loving Jesus themselves and by trying to please Him in all aspects of their lives.

Is our faith sincere? Do we live according to what we say we believe? This can be a difficult question to answer. After all, I don't think hypocrites often see themselves as hypocrites. I don't want to be a hypocrite. Not only because a hypocritical faith won't be picked up by anyone, but also for myself. I want to follow Jesus sincerely, living for Him with all my heart.

Hopefully, as we try to live out a deep and sincere faith in Jesus, others will want that same faith to live in them.