Remember the Sabbath???

The wisest man that ever lived warns us not to lean on what seems right to us but to look to the only One who truly knows the way we should go (Proverbs 3:5-7).  Solomon learned the hard way that doing what seems perfectly logical in our human way of thinking can be devastating. His home and kingdom were in a state of ruin because he made decisions based on what was wise, according to his culture. In hindsight, he begs those who will listen to find God’s path.

In children’s church this past week we talked about how Saul, persecutor of Christians, thought what he was doing was something God wanted him to do. He used the information he had and the wisdom he had gained studying under the best teachers of his time. The only thing that stopped him was to be blinded by the Truth. In essence, Saul had to have his way of thinking erased and his focus changed in order to find the real reason God put him on this earth.

That is the same kind of transformation that we need to take our focus from what the world  dictates to what God requires. If we would allow God to wipe our hard-drive clean and reprogram our thoughts, we could find the reason we are here and stop wasting so much time doing the things that seem wise to us. As I talked about how easy it is to get wrapped up in what the world says is right a 3^rd grade boy raised his hand and said, “It’s like last summer when we were in church learning about God and all those kids were outside playing baseball. They think that is what is important, but then they never get to know what we learn here and don’t get to worship God and stuff.”

Out of the mouths of babes!  We don’t have to look very far to see areas where we have chosen the wisdom of the world over the wisdom of the Word. If you truly believe it is important for your kids to find God and follow him, what are you doing about it?  You can and should be teaching them the truth of scripture at home and living your own life accordingly, but that isn’t all the Bible says about following God. Hebrews 10:25 teaches us that we are not to neglect our time of worship together. Throughout the New Testament we learn that we are to meet together to sing praise, to pray, to share and to learn together. Is that the priority in your home?

I understand that, in our society, we are compelled to have our kids in sports and in our society, Sunday is no longer a day of worship. The wisdom of the world says that sport is where we learn good habits, self-discipline, motivation and a healthy life-style. Furthermore, if we don’t enroll them at a very young age, they will not be competitive enough to play in high school. If they don’t play in high school they will not be able to get that scholarship that will cut down on college debt. That is just good stewardship, right? And besides, if God gave our kid talent in a particular sport, we have to give them every opportunity to develop it… and of course, give Him all the glory.

This makes perfect sense in our culture. But when our children are raising our grandchildren and they have no use for the church or what it represents, perhaps then we will see the dangerous, pseudo wisdom that has taken our focus off of God. It’s not too late to take a stand for what is wise according to scripture. Let God blind you to the wrong path and open your eyes to wisdom and truth according to His Word. Take a lesson from the Apostle Paul… and Cade… and realize, before it’s too late, that your kids need to “worship God and stuff.”