Deuteronomy 4:1-49
Luke 6:39-7:10
Psalm 68:1-18
Proverbs 11:28
I have many responsibilities, but the one that stresses me out the most is my role as a parent. I worry about my kids - even my eldest, who is already in her sophomore year in college. I understand my parents so much better now, and now know that, like them, I will never stop being a parent to my kids, no matter how old they get.
It's funny how parenting, to continue to be effective, has to change as the kids get older. How we parent our kids today is very different from how we parented them, say, even 5 years ago. The issues were different, the receptiveness was different, their ability to understand was different. And the stakes just get higher. Where then to go for good guidance on what and how to teach them? Today's reading is instructive - in Deuteronomy 9:9 we read "Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them."
I used to focus on the second part of that verse - teach them to my children. The first part is equally important, though - to watch myself closely so that I do not forget the things I have seen, or let them slip from my heart for as long as I live. See, I can't just tell my kids to learn God's lessons, can't teach it to them like lessons from a book. Key here is they have to see me live them. I can't expect them to remember how God has blessed them, unless they see me remember how much He has blessed me. I can't expect them to want Him in their lives unless they see how happy I am to have him in mine.
Father, it seems strange to pray for our children by praying for ourselves, but we have to. Please guide us, the parents of the children you've given us, so that our lives reflect the relationship with you we hope our children will want for themselves, will one day enjoy.
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