The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Luke 2:21-23, “And when eight days were completed before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

22 And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord

23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every first-born male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”).

One of the strange things that makes the Bible a Holy Book is that the same verse that gives information on one matter gives information on another matter. Some of you reading this letter just now are men. Did you understand that verse when it says, “Every first-born male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”?

Notice that it does not give exclusivity; it simply means that if you are a male and the first-born in your family, according to Scripture, you are “called holy to the Lord.” It should follow then that we who are the first-born males in our families should behave throughout life as one “called holy to the Lord.”

One of the vital characterizations for the first-born male, therefore, is to live a pure and holy life. We are “called to be pure,” although we are not always pure. Jesus is our Supreme Example. He was throughout His earthly life what the Father wants us to be.

It is not my place to offer judgment regarding who is truly saved and who is not; yet, I observe, just as you do, those who say they are “Christians,” but live contrary to the true Biblical definition. Whether they are truly “born again” believers, the LORD alone knows. Thus, it becomes our responsibility to pray for them. If they are true believers, they will appreciate our prayers; if they are not, they need our prayers all the more.

We are living in difficult times. Word meanings are often scrambled, making it virtually impossible to know with certainty who is and who is not a truly “born again” believer in Christ. We must live the life that leaves no one in doubt about us. May 2025 ever and always reflect the LORD in our lives!

Heartily in Christ,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom