Follow Me

Here are a few things you never find in red letters (the words of Jesus) in your Bible:

“Knock it off!”

“Stop being an idiot!”

“If you do that one more time…!”

“Don’t make me come back there!”

“I’ve told you for the last time…!”

“You make me so mad!”

He had “children” who he “raised” to be people of good character and integrity; to be leaders; to be strong; to be catalyst for change; to mature in their faith; to learn what it means to be godly. In that way, Jesus was not all that unlike us in our desire to raise our children well. His method of teaching them and speaking to them, however, may have looked and sounded different than ours.

He said, “Follow Me.” And then he led them, patiently, by example, loving them… in all their childishness and spiritual immaturity. Because He knew that we are all children, starting in infancy, growing, learning, maturing in our faith and on a journey that needs a Guide.

Take a look in the mirror. Are you living according to Jesus’ plan for you?  Do you possess character and integrity? Are you strong enough to lead? To be a catalyst for change? Are you maturing in your faith and learning what it means to be godly? If you can say YES, I want to meet you because I haven’t yet met the person who could honestly answer affirmatively every moment of every day. We are flawed and we struggle and we mess up.

And He loves us anyway. Because He is GRACE.

Two things I want you to take away from that picture:

1)       Extend the grace to your kids that you want God to extend to you. Understand that they are young, immature, learning, growing, imperfect, flawed, selfish, strong-willed, beautiful creations of God, entrusted to your care. Let grace fill your heart and your speech as you guide them. Let all harsh words fall away (and when you lose it, let them know that you are aware that isn’t how God wanted you to act and apologize to them and to Him).

2)      Be someone you want your kids to follow. A person that snuggles up to God to meet your needs… not a credit card, a career, a bottle, a creed or “friends.”  Look over your shoulder and you will see that they are following YOU. So make sure you are following Jesus. 

There is a good chance that you want to send the message to the world that walking with Jesus isn’t about RULES, but about RELATIONSHIP.  Make that your plan as you guide your children. We are big on teaching them the rules, but teach as Jesus did, asking them to follow you, learn from you, as you patiently show them how to live in relationship with Jesus while you build a unbreakable relationship with them. 

Starving Children

The kitchen is the place in many homes where crisis is likely. Not because there are sharp knives or fires, but because working in one can make you CRAZY!

Your brain gets exhausted with mind reading, which is a must. I have enough difficulty figuring out what I want to eat, let alone what may sound good to the rest of the family.

If you fail at the previous struggle, another common crisis in the kitchen will occur. It is the fanning fridge door phenomenon. Open the door. Look inside. Find nothing appealing. Close the door. Walk away. Return. Open the door…. Repeat steps countless times until the frugal family member reminds you of the energy cost involved with such behavior.

The endless chore of cook, clean, cook, clean, cook, clean tends to wear you down after a while but you can’t stop because apparently there are laws about feeding your kids … every single day!

…and how in the world does a fridge get so dirty when you only put clean things in it?

It is always a good practice to be thankful for the fact that you have food to feed your family, rather than complaining about the task of doing it. If you are reading this blog, it is likely that you don’t have to worry about your child starving… physically. But sometimes I wonder if we need to worry a little bit more about our kids suffering from spiritual starvation. Jesus understood the need to be fed by more than bread. He knew, as the Creator, that there is more within us than a stomach to fill. The souls of our kids must be provided for. The void that causes them to fan the door of excitement, adventure and risk taking in search of what they crave can be filled with the soul nutrition of the Bread of Life. God’s plan and purpose for them will supply all the adventure they need. The risks He will call them to take may look dangerous to those who don’t understand the Sovereignty of the Almighty, but to those who truly BELIEVE, they will be the adventure of a lifetime.

Feed your children. Care for their nutritional needs. What we put into them does matter. A steady diet of pop tarts and cereal will not supply their needs. By the same token, we are called to feed their souls. The part of them that is eternal is much more critical than the physical. Provide healthy spiritual snacks of Truths from the Bible… verses to remember and hide in their heart. ..Bible stories that teach them how to live as a follower of Jesus.  If you go on strike, they will starve. Follow through on the responsibility God has given you to train them. It’s the best thing you will ever do!

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9

Ambassadors at Home

Grandparents like to tell their story. They like to recount the events of their childhood; compare and contrast then and now. They like to share where they started and marvel at where they ended up. The mistakes and sins of their past have been wiped clean and they have a new life and they give God the credit for the changes he brought about so that they could have a great story to tell. This is part of that special bond between and grandparent and grandchild… the sharing of the story.

Parents are not nearly as eager to tell their story to their kids. Somehow we think that they need to see us as more than a real person who is without struggles and failures. It seems like we don’t want them to know our bad choices for fear that they will run right out and duplicate them. We bury our sin in the hopes that they never find out, lest they lose respect for us and complicate the already difficult process of raising them. Often our shame and not forgiving ourselves keeps us from telling our story to them.

There is, however, a story that parents MUST learn to tell their children… even if it involves revealing some of the flaws in our character. In order to teach our kids the way that they should go, we have to be able to tell them our story of walking with God, which may involve a time when we were the “prodigal in a distant land.” Children learn in a variety of ways, but a sure winner is from hearing the story. They can hear the story of how God protected Daniel from the lions or David from the Giant, but that is a story from a distant time and place. Hearing how God protected Dad from an unwise decision so that He could teach him a valuable lesson is much more real to them. They can hear how Delilah was a bad decision for Samson, but how much more beneficial to learn how a broken heart turned into a Divine rescue from an unhealthy relationship for Mom.

Make sure that your journey with Jesus isn’t personal and private, but learn to tell what He is doing in your life and your heart so that your kids haven’t a doubt that God is alive, in you, and working through you. They need to know that the good they see in you is a result of God at work. They need to know that the things that aren’t so good are areas where God is still teaching you. Let’s face it! They are not ever going to think you are a perfect human so stop trying to present yourself that way and allow them to watch your journey and learn. Use the wisdom you find in talking with God to humbly share what your kids need to hear, then trust Him to use your story to magnify the God they seek.

Remember…

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”

2 Corinthians 5:20