By Rosie Moore

Max Jukes lived in the state of New York. He was not a Christian and did not believe in any sort of Christian training. His was the life of a reprobate. The girl he married was of the same opinion and had the same sort of questionable character. These were not nice people by any stretch of the imagination. Their personal lives and their home life was a mess. Out of this union they have 1,025 descendants. Each of these descendants was followed through their lifetime with these results. Three hundred of them died prematurely. One hundred of these descendants were sentenced to spend an average of 13 years in prisons. One hundred-ninety of the girls were public prostitutes. There were more than one hundred drunkards. The results are that this family of descendants ended up costing the state and federal government millions of dollars–dollars that were spent to care for them on the welfare rolls, as well as making room for them in the prisons–let alone what they cost in their immoral influence. Not a one of these descendants made any kind of a positive contribution to society that could be found.

But…..

Jonathan Edwards lived in the same state at about the same time. He believed in Christian training. He was a well-known preacher in his day. He lived his religion in his home life. The girl he married also was a committed Christian and set about to raise their family in these same concepts. From this union they had 729 descendants that were studied. Out of the family have come 300 preachers. Further, 63 went on to become college professors and 13 became college presidents. Sixty of these family members became of authors of what would be considered good books with a positive influence. Three were elected to become United States congressmen, and one was elected the-president of the United States. And except for Aaron Burr, a grandson of Edwards who married a lady of questionable character, the family has not cost the state or federal government a single dollar to care for. The Edwards family was a family who impacted our nation in a very positive way. What’s the major difference? Christian commitment and training against the absence of such. We must also add that the vast majority of the Edwards family became Christians at an early age.

Well, that’s certainly food for thought, isn’t it?

An excerpt from the book, Moments for Grandparents by Robert Grand.

Thought for the day:

Hold fast to dreams,

For if dreams die,

Life is like a broken-winged bird

that cannot fly.        Langston Hughes