WHEN FATHER AND SON MEET
2 Sam. 22:2-3/Ps. 77:12-14

The two men looked at each other curiously. One of them had been in this place for some time. The other had just arrived.

 "How do you get along here?" asked the younger man. "It's OK if you behave yourself" the older one responded. Then he asked, "What is your name?" The lad answered, "Robert Macon. And yours?" The older man, hesitatingly and with an ashen smile on his face answered, "I also am Robert Macon."

Father and son had met after 19 years of separation. Unfortunately, it was in a cell of the Santa Clara, California penitentiary.

There are many stories about fathers and sons who after many years of separation have been reunited. Some fathers have gone to war, in some instances have been taken prisoners, and have returned to find that their sons are grown men. On other occasions fathers have gone to distant places for work-related reasons, and have come back home years later only to find that their boys are now men, with their own families and children. But the story of the Macons is a different kind of story.

The elderly Macon had never been a good example to his son. In his life of crime he had been in jail many times. The son, having been left on his own, lived on the streets. He knew no other life than that which his father had passed down to him. Then, after 19 years of separation, father and son met where all criminals end up, in a prison cell. It could have been a different story. But when a person chooses to be involved in crime the story can never have a happy ending.

Whether or not there is a separation, most of us will have to face our children some day. What kind of example are we being to them? Where are our lives leading them? If we were to be separated from our children for fifteen years, where would we find them at the end of that time? In what condition and under what circumstances would we find them?

We would find them living the lives that we have lived. The greatest influences our children will ever have are our examples. The maxim, "like father like son" is all too true.

What our children need from us is guidance, not careless depravity. Our faith is the most positive gift we can give them. However, we will not be able to instill God's morality into our children unless we as parents submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Radio Nuevo Mundo is a commercial station in the city of Entre Ríos, Argentina. A MESSAGE TO THE CONSCIENCE is heard there each day at 6:30 AM. Pray that each program will be effective in the task of reaching the lost in this city.