Together

I’ve heard it said that children are our future.  I would say that they are not only our future.  They are our today.  They are our now.  Not only that, they are the part of us that is innocent, pure, and loving enough to be in the Kingdom of God.

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. (Mark 10:13-16 NIV)

You may be thinking this week, “Whew!  I dodged that bullet.  I don’t have any children or grandchildren, so I don’t have to worry about any of this.”  Jesus had something different to say on the subject.

If anyone causes one of these little ones--those who believe in me--to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! (Matthew 18:6-7 NIV)

We are the people who build environments for our children.  Do we build dangerous environments that separate children from God?  Or do we build safe environments for children to draw near to, and then walk together with, God?  This environment-creating is not just the responsibility of the parents.  It is our responsibility as well.  We are called by God to create environments where even little children can walk together with God.

He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." (Mark 9:36-37 NIV)

How about you?  Do you create safe environments for children to walk together with God?  Do you try to do this on your own, or are we working together?

Start Now

I know that my post a couple days ago, Protected from God?, was a bit long.  Talking through history and explaining Numbers 13-14 can get a little boring.  (I saw people starting to fade on Sunday and Tuesday during the same section of teaching.) 

My hope in teaching all that context, however, was twofold.  First, I was hoping that we would see the ways and places where we end up separating our children from God.  That’s what we covered on Tuesday.  My second hope, though, was that we would realize that it’s not too late to start teaching them better.

He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands. They would not be like their ancestors-- a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him. (Psalm 78:5-8 NIV)

I like to remind myself that the very people who were told to teach their children well were the same people who had messed up and were sentenced to die in the desert.  In other words, our mistakes do not need to stop us from teaching our children.  In fact, our mistakes can be a part of our teaching.  We can show our children where our bad decisions resulted in bad consequences.  We can tell them, that we love them and want a better life for them than that.  Then, we can show them God’s way so their life can be better.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother"--which is the first commandment with a promise-- "so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:1-4 NIV)

This is the idea behind all the passages like this.  Children are not being told to blindly obey even their parents’ bad habits.  They are to obey their parents in the Lord.  When their parents are not acting in the Lord, they do not need to obey those instructions.  (So, you don’t need to help your dad knock over the bank this week.)  Parents aren’t told that they have free reign to just boss their children around.  They are told to bring their children up in the training and instruction of the Lord.  That means we need to learn the training and instruction of the Lord, so we can pass it along.

Here’s the good news.  Even if we blew it, we can teach our children to know better.  We can help them see God’s picture.  We can draw a line in the sand.  We can start now.  The Israelites did, and their children inherited the promised land.

How about you?  Do you know the training and instruction of the Lord?  Have you made mistakes?  Have you let your mistakes get in the way of teaching your children?  Are you ready to start now?

Teach Your Children

Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time. (Deuteronomy 4:40 NIV)

This command makes much more sense, now that we understand the story.  This command is being given to the children who are stuck in the desert for 40 years because of their parents’ bad judgement.

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me. "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Deuteronomy 5:6-10 NIV)

They have been getting punished for their parents’ sins – to the third and fourth generation.  God is promising, though, to show them love to a thousand generations – as long as they choose to be with God rather than against God.

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. (Deuteronomy 11:18-21 NIV)

When they choose God, they will be given the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  When they choose God, they will be given victory over their enemies.  When they choose God, they will be given life more abundantly.  They simply need to do what their parents didn’t do.  They need to choose God.

Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever! (Deuteronomy 5:29 NIV)

How about you?  Do you choose God?  Do you teach children to choose God? Does God give you life more abundantly?

Protected From God?

There are many passages of Scripture that speak to parents and children, yet are often misunderstood, misinterpreted, or just outright misused.  These twists to what God has said make all the difference in the world for the life and well being of our children and grandchildren.  So, we’re going to investigate the context of a set of these passages so we won’t miss the point.

We start out with a little history.  Abraham was promised, by God, to be given land as an inheritance for himself and all of his descendants.  Abraham’s son, Isaac, had that promised renewed by God and it happened again with Isaac's son, Jacob.  Jacob was renamed by God.  His new name was Israel.  Israel had twelve boys who became the twelve tribes of Israel.  They ended up in Egypt at one point because there was a great famine in the land and Egypt had the food.  Things went well until a new Pharaoh decided he didn’t like the Israelites and put them in slavery.

God sent Moses to set the Israelites free.  God did this by sending Moses, bringing ten plagues on Israel, and, finally, helping the Israelites escape through the Red Sea.  They walked through the sea on dry ground with water like walls on either side of them.  The water crashed down on Pharaoh’s army and they were free.  The Israelites were in the desert and needed water, so God gave them water out of a rock.  They needed food, so God provided manna (bread) on the desert floor each morning and quail for meat in the evening.  God provided for their needs, and they worshipped God at Mt. Sinai.

God told them that it was time to inherit the land promised to their ancestor, Abraham.  So, they travelled to this land – a land flowing with milk and honey.  In other words, there was plenty of water, greenery, and food to eat.  They selected twelve men, one from each of the twelve tribes, to go into the land and find out what was there.  They came back with their report.

They gave Moses this account: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. (Numbers 13:27-28 NIV)

Ten of the twelve men were terrified.  They didn’t want to go into the promised land, even though it was beautiful, filled with food, and had everything God had promised.  They didn’t want to go in because they were afraid of the large, powerful people who lived there.  They were afraid that they would die.

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." (Numbers 13:30 NIV)

Two of the twelve men, Joshua and Caleb, were not afraid.  They did not look at the size of the enemy.  They reminded themselves of the size of their God.  God had set them free from slavery in Egypt.  God brought the ten plagues.  God opened the Red Sea.  God provided water, manna, and quail.  God was far more powerful than any enemy they would face.  “Let’s go,” was essentially what they were saying.  “Let us go into the land with the LORD.”

That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt." (Numbers 14:1-4 NIV)

Here’s where we get to the point about parents, children, and families.  As parents, we need to decide what is best for our children who are too young to decide.  We need to decide who we trust.  We need to decide how to protect them, how to raise them, and how to teach them.  This is what the Israelites faced.   Most of them chose NOT to trust God.

They wanted to go back to the land where they lived in slavery.  They were not willing to trust God in battle.  They were afraid that they would be killed and their children would be taken away as plunder.

Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them." (Numbers 14:5-9 NIV)

All of the arguing back and forth would be to no avail.  The majority of the Israelites chose to go back.  They wanted to protect their children from the people of the promised land.  What they were really saying was that they wanted to protect their children from God.  This was the land God had promised.  This was the battle God would fight.  This was the plan God had laid before them.  They would have been protected with God.  But instead, they tried to protect them from God.

I know this is a long devotion, and many of you are thinking, “Get to the point, Pete.”  Well, here’s the point.  Do we protect our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren WITH God or FROM God? 

We make it illegal to teach about, learn from, or pray to God in our schools.  We continually change our laws to make it ok to do things God says we should not do, and make it harder and harder to do the things God says we should do.  We say, “I’m not going to force any religion on my children so they can decide for themselves when they grow up.”  We tell one another that religion is one of the two taboo subjects never to bring up in social settings. 

I’ve had parents tell me not to pray for their children, not to tell them the truth, and even to tell their children that rebellion against God is not rebellion at all.  I’ve had to watch what my children watch, listen to what they listen to, and participate on computer forums where they participate – all to understand where other people try to pull them away from God.  God is not the one to be protected from.  God is the one we are protected with.  The Israelites learned this the hard way.  Because they did not trust God, they were sentenced to death in the desert.

As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. For forty years--one year for each of the forty days you explored the land--you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.' (Numbers 14:31-34 NIV)

How about you?  Do you protect your children from God?  Or, do you join Him together with your children and seek protection with God?

Family Builder

We’ve already talked about sensing God through creation, hearing God through His Word, and joining God following His plan.  When we come home to the Father through the Son, we receive the Holy Spirit and everything changes.  As we start building our relationship with God, we become life builders.  As we learn to love our neighbors as ourselves, we become relationship builders.  Perhaps we find one person that we want to build that special relationship with, so we become marriage builders.  When we leave our father and mother, cleave to our spouse, and become one flesh, God often blesses us with a child.  Then, when we walk with Go here, we become family builders.

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground." (Genesis 1:28 NIV)

Being fruitful, multiplying, and filling the earth has been a part of God’s plan from the beginning.  The marriage relationship and human sexuality has been a part of His plan as well.  This is how all of us got here.  We are here by God’s design.  We are here by God’s plan – whether our parents ever told us that or not.

Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. (Psalms 127:3-5a NIV)

Children are a blessing from God.  Through them, our heritage continues.  When we walk together with God and teach our children to do the same, God’s heritage continues in our lives as well.  We become family builders.

How about you?  Do you see children as a gift from God?  Do you build a heritage into them?  Does that heritage start with God?