"Some Things We Must Tell The Children"

Yesterday, I enjoyed one of my favorite things, spending time with my grandchildren. Alicia, who just turned ten, is delighting these days in hearing her MaMa tell stories from her past. They range anywhere from serious ones like Grandanny's deep-sea adventure- he finding the captain when the storm was fierce (faith-building, teachable moment)- to "roll on the floor" ones like her 10 year old MaMa kicking a teasing boy named Max and missing her intended target and hitting the chair and breaking her little toe. The picture of her grandmother wearing flip-flops to school  in the winter thoroughly amused Alicia.

As I mused on our day and relished the appetite she has for hearing stories from days gone by and remembering how I loved to hear my own precious Mother relate past happenings in her life- ( wished I had asked her more), one of the many songs that the Gaithers wrote came to mind. And from their song title and from Deut. 6 that I have been reading this week, my thought for the day is "Some Things We Must Tell The Children."

Children are dear to my heart and I know to yours too, Christian brothers and sisters. How can they not be? They arrive with hearts, though sinful by nature, but very impressionable, like an empty slate which we can begin to write on and be God's agent in shaping them toward the right way. And, our Guide Book must be the Word of God. Yes, I believe, there are good books to read and be helpful but they must reiterate, not deny nor disclaim the Instruction Book for life. God, the Maker and Owner of those lives, know best how to raise them!  God, speaking through His servant Moses in Deut. 6:1-2  tells Israel He has taught them the principles and they are to "do" them. I heard the phrase once that "life lessons for children are more caught than taught." There is a catchy phrase, I think, that instructs us parents and grandparents that they watch us to see if our talk matches our walk.  Hypocrisy is a snare, fellow believer and please hear my heart on this. I've mentioned before that there is a big difference for me teaching face to face with people who know me and blogging to precious souls who might misunderstand me. Example- in my last blog, I was not judging or putting guilt trips on those who have experienced broken homes. They happen and that is actually why I used the line- "some times we go over the cliff."  Thank God for His mercy- no one needs it more than me. My aim was preventative to those who haven't gone there yet. If one person read and God used it to stir them to work a little harder at making their marriage work, then it was worth it!

There are some things we need to say to the children and for it to be effective, they need to see us applying it in our lives and they need to hear from us when we fail that we failed. It isn't our aim to deceive them into thinking we are perfect. How impossible that would be!  Verses 5-6  "And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thine might." We should say by word and example "Children, I live my life for the God of the Bible- He is my Salvation, my Strength, and my Song! He is our Hope, our Help, and our Head- He controls our decisions we make in this home."

I love the application of verses 7-9, a scene of not so much as calling class to order for an hour to go through a legalistic list that we can check-off but more so, as you go about the day, do not miss the teachable moments. Don't get me wrong, I believe that a structured Bible time is wonderful. It thrills me when Amy tells me how excited the wee-ones are when Daddy calls them to the den to teach them and let them ask questions from the exciting O.T.passages but during the course of a "normal" day, there will be key moments that God can use a discerning parent to impart life lessons. "When thou sittest in thine house, when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Yes, parents would agree that it is a full-time job, isn't it? Vs 9- "And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." I heard or read from a Christian teacher or writer once and I cannot remember who but he said on his grandfather's wall when he was a little boy was a plaque with these words -"Only one life and that too will pass; only what is done for Christ will last." He said that now it is on his wall at his house because of the impact it had on him as a little boy every time he would visit his grandparents' home.  We must tell the children that God has a plan for their lives. I love the line in the Gaither song -"Did we make it clear, did we make you hear as you skipped through the house and our lives? God has a plan that you must understand- remember whose child you are."  I remember a favorite teacher in my past, married to a pastor and to their three children they would remind each time they left- "Remember whose child you are!" I loved that but see, today, the new philosophy would be that that is putting too much pressure on the poor child. I don't think that is - I think that instruction may help prevent them from going over the cliff. Being reminded that Christ is my life and He abiding in me will enable me to say "yes" to the Spirit and "no" to the flesh is a good thing for me and for our children.

We must tell the children that Christ is our life, that He has a plan for theirs, and that the world, this culture will do everything in its power to keep them from it. Look at verse 14-"Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you." We must tell the children that Christians walk counter-culture. There have probably been few children (teens most likely) who haven't used this phrase on their parents- "Well, everybody else gets to do that or go there." etc.   I am not talking about being legalistic here where they have to look weird and act weird just to emphasize that "we Christians are different". I discern that few are erring toward that extreme today. The truth is that Christians are different- we are marching toward a goal that will butt the heads of the world's goals and we must tell the children that our values will diametrically oppose the "gods" of this culture and world system and must make the decision as Joshua posed to the children of Israel- "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

We have a generation of people coming up who are debating in their minds and yes, even in some churches, if marriage can be redefined. Did you ever think that America would need to hold debates over whether marriage also applies to two women or two men?  If you let the world and even the schools instruct your kids on this issue, they will begin to think that tolerance for all life-styles is the right thing to do. We must tell our children that marriage is a life-long commitment between a man and a woman. Why? Because God says so!  We must tell our children about the sanctity of human life, from the womb to the mentally and physically impaired to the oldest in our population,. Culture is debating this issue, rationing health care is probably closer than we know and we must instruct our little ones that God loves all people and He is the Author of lives. He has a purpose and a plan and it isn't our place to decide who is expendable or not.  We must tell the children that success is not measured by the size of their bank accounts, the fame of Hollywood, (why all the media frenzy over the outfit that one of their pitiful starlets wore to jail?)  nor the overinflated egos of athletes. BUT rather "Children, success for the Christian is measured by living my life for the glory of God!" There will be a day when the "nobodies" , the poor, the unknown, the humble will be recognized. We must tell them that the world may not notice but "Jesus loves you so much that He died for you."  Well, there is probably a book that could be written about what to tell the children---OH! , there has been and I hold it in my lap as I write. "And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children...". From Genesis through Revelation- tell them!!

Let me close with another line from Bill and Gloria- "You don't have to earn our love; there is not a thing you could do to make us stop loving you - some things we must tell the children!"

     

Looking up, Deborah