If My Kids Could Love One Thing...

I have a tapestry on my wall that states,

“You can’t lead your children if you don’t know where you’re going.”

Sometimes life whisks you away into a whirlwind of activity, so much so that you barely know your way back home. Schedules are cramped and calendars are packed and there is little time to even think about your desired destination because the tasks of everyday life are so often all consuming. How do we keep our focus on the destination and trim our sails to get there? It is difficult, yet oh so simple.

Decide where you want your kids to be in,.. let's say one year, or two. Discuss a plan to get them there. Devote yourself to staying the course.  If you don’t take the time to sit down together and determine what the most important thing you want your kids to take away from their years under your roof, you will find that the time has come for them to follow their own path and they have no clue where to find it. Your calendar will always control you if you don't determine to take control of it and be intentional about what you want them to know/learn.

There are many good qualities that you can instill in your kids. Honesty, good work ethic, kindness, strength of character, and the list goes on… but the one thing that you can give them that will cover all of those things, and more, is a love for God’s Word. Now, that will be extremely difficult if you have brushed it aside as something for those who have been to seminary and are “called” to feed the proverbial sheep. You just come and graze at the trough of their knowledge an hour a week and call it good. Maybe you talk about it on the way home and marvel at how well the pastor breaks down the scripture into bite-sized morsels that are quite palatable. You may even have a devotional book that gives you a verse a day to nibble on. Truly, a steady diet like that will leave you severely malnourished, Biblically speaking. And it will not grow a love for the Word in your children. That would be like expecting your kids to watch you in the kitchen and become an excellent chef when “cooking,” for you, means putting a frozen pizza in the oven.

There is so much to be learned from the living Word of God. It is truly inspired; God-breathed; filled with truth; overflowing with real life lessons… often learned the hard way. It has the power to shape hearts and change lives. It holds within its pages the foundation of Truth upon which a godly life can be built. It opens the windows of heaven and exposes the heart of the God who wants to direct our journey to His side.

If you truly want your children to know Truth and embrace it, then first you need to begin to dig in. Don’t leave that to their Children’s Church teacher. They are there to teach and direct, yes! But they are the supplement to what you are teaching at home. It’s not typically very effective to sit at the table and simply read through the Bible with children. It is more personal when you have read it, hidden the message in your heart, seen the transformation in your own life and attitude and then share it with your kids. Tell them your story. Tell them about the Truth that set you free. Use the wisdom of Solomon to direct them. Use the parables of Jesus to teach them.

Don’t be discouraged if you don’t know much about the Bible. Nobody does… until they open it up and start to read. Until they ask questions and dig in. Until they want more and  more truth to speak into their live. You have to start somewhere… sometime… How about NOW?

We all have 1, 440 minutes in a day. Can you devote 20 or 30 of them to God’s Word? It will open your eyes to who He is and what He wants to do in your life. It will become a roadmap laid out before you. I believe that it is totally true that you can’t lead your kids if you don’t know where you’re going. Make a plan to study His “map.”  Failing to plan is planning to fail. Find the time. Carve it out of the busyness. Follow through. Lead your children in the way that HE has for them and teach them to love His Word by allowing it to breathe fresh life into your busy days.