Ka Ipu o Lono shares weekly devotionals to provide spiritual enrichment to members of the Kamehameha Schools ‘ohana. For more inspiration, visit the KS “Our faith” website.
Heluhelu Baibala
Bible reading
E hoʻonaʻauao mai ʻoe iaʻu, a e mālama nō au i kou kānāwai, e mālama nōa u ia me koʻu naʻau a pau. – Na Halelū 119:34
Give me understanding. Then I will listen to Your Word and obey it with all my heart. – Psalms 119:34
He manaʻo o ke Kahu
KS Hawai‘i Kahu Kaunaloa Boshard KSK’77
Nowadays, reading my Baibala Hemolele (Holy Bible) is a wonderful way to spend time with God while receiving wisdom and direction. However, I remember when I was much younger when reading my Bible was quite a different experience.
Growing up in a Hawaiian Hale Pule setting at Mokuaikaua Congregation Church in Kailua Kona, as a keiki I was surrounded with pule and praise. Our Kumu Kalikiano (Christian teachers) were mostly women of strong faith who loved Jesus and made sure that we were all invested with our studies with praying, reading, and singing!
Sunday school was not only a time of learning how to navigate the Bible, but we sang praises together and created bonds that will never be forgotten. As young keiki, we knew all the books of the Old and New Testament in order, because we learned them in a mele. From that strong base of knowledge, we could find any book, any chapter and any verse which prepared us for reading stories of Jesus out loud to each other.
However, as I got to high school and college, my thirst for opening and reading my Baibala began to wane. Spiritually speaking, it was a tougher time filled with a lot of lost opportunities to become wiser and stronger in my faith.
What happened to me? My learning environments didn’t stress those types of skills that I learned well as a youth, nor were the principles and values of Jesus Christ being used enough in class to cause a hunger in my soul to return to my faith wholeheartedly. I was confused, as I almost abandoned all that I knew. The less time that I spent being tuned in to God’s word and ultimately God’s spirit the more I began existing in a self-serving lifestyle that corrupted my character.
However, Proverbs reminds us that if we train a child in the ways of the Lord, they will not depart from the teachings, the message, the faith and the love, even when they take detours.
Thank the Lord for godly parents of faith and Sunday School! Yes, Jesus was always walking with me even if I wasn’t choosing to walk with our Lord. One Sunday as a young husband, my wife and I were sitting in church and it dawned upon both of us that the words being spoken from the Baibala Hemolele were describing the situation that we were currently going through as a young couple thinking about having children.
We immediately began reading our Bibles together for more wisdom regarding parenthood. However, this time not as a checklist to demonstrate our level of Christianity, but to soak in the light of God’s word which promises to help us see clearly God’s plans for us as parents. Plans God had already set in motion. We could hear God’s voice calling us back to the flock, and we gained wisdom and obeyed.
Now, I read my Baibala Hemolele like it is a love letter from God who desires to see me, my wife, our children and our children’s children, my friends, my co-workers, and the people I meet trust and obey in Jesus.
When our family gathers for ʻOhana we intentionally spend time in prayer and praise and purposely spend time in God’s word. Our goals are simple – we read together, and after, discuss what we each understood and connected to in our naʻau. Next, we talk about ways we can offer what we have learned from our Lord and apply it to our daily walk with Jesus.
So, if you are getting distracted, or not spending enough time in God’s word, take heart, God is with you and always encouraging you to take steps of faith. Just ask for the wisdom to read a short passage of scripture each day. Before you begin to read and study, ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten your heart and your mind to the message that God has planned for you to understand. You will receive supernatural guidance to read, understand, and believe!
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