Throughout the years we have seen many changes in the way we live. One of my favorite television shows has always been the Andy Griffith Show. This television classic brings a refreshing view of a time long gone where everything was so much simplier. Sometimes I find myself thinking of the ‘good old days’ , the way life should be. Now we find ourselves living in a strange new world filled with people caring only about themselves with no absolutes and no direction in their lives. For those of us whose knowledge of the ‘good old days’ came from stories told by those much older than we, how do we make sense of it all? Can we learn lessons from the past? Can we bring back to this crazy world a taste of the days gone by? To do that, we must look back at those days and see what life was really like. Here are just a few of things we can recall from days gone by:
1. An unwavering love and fear for Jesus. As we go back in time we see people who had a true love relationship with Jesus and a fear of God. Even those who were not ‘Christian people’ they had a fear and a respect for the things of God. To not allow a manger scene in a public square was unheard of. For stores to open on Sunday was consider blasphemous. People really loved and feared the name of Jesus. For a ‘Christian’ family to go any where else other than church on Sunday would have been obsured. When people sung ‘Oh, how I love Jesus’ it came from a true sincere heart. In the days gone by people loved Jesus for real! It was not a religion or a habit or ‘just something we do.’ They really trully loved Jesus and it showed in the way they lived.
2. Faithfulness to the house of God. In the days gone by we find families whose lives centered around the church. Everytime the church doors were open they were there. Godly men made it a priority to have their family in church. There was no debate, no questions asked, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, revival meetings, they were there. They took seriously the command in scripture that tells us to “not forsake the assembly of ourselves together.” Church was not something people went to when they had nothing else better to do. Church attendance was a top priority far above anything else.
3. A strong commitment to family. Divorce was not an option in those days. For most couples it was not even in their vocabulary. The family structure was set up to model scripture. The father understood his role as the man of the house and was the ‘man of the house.’ The women also understood their role in being a helper to husband and a loving mother to her children. Families did everything together. They did not spend alot of time apart and they did not go to seperate churches. Familes worshipped, worked, and played together. The family unit was made up of one man and one woman for life.
4. Accountability. Believe it or not there was a day when a ‘private’ life was much harder to obtain. In this internet age we are actually able to go into a virtual reality world where we can even change who we are. I believe that we should become more open with those we love and our churches. There should be no secrets within our family and within our relationships with our church family.
The “good ole’ days”, can we get back there? Sure. Just make things simple, the way they should be. Perhaps a good dose of Mayberry will do us some good!