“Call them all together—men, women, children, and the foreigners living in your towns—so they may hear this Book of Instruction and learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully obey all the terms of these instructions. Do this so that your children who have not known these instructions will hear them and will learn to fear the LORD your God. Do this as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.”
Deuteronomy 31:12-13 (NLT)
To choose that which is best requires knowing “Who knows best.” How do we prepare our children for that moment of obedience that we do not even know when or what it will be? The Bible makes it clear that God is the boss and He has “all” authority. If our children have a sense of an All-Knowing and All-Caring God, might that impact their decisions to choose as He would command or desire? Psalm 36:1 (NLT): “Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God at all.” We can’t go wrong when we train our children to consider “What would please God?”
The acknowledgement that there is an ultimate authority seems to be lacking in our contemporary society’s behavior. Jude 1:25 (NLT): “All glory to Him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are His before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.” If parents look to God as their ultimate authority, then our children will “catch” from us that same standard. When we raise children whose first allegiance is to God and His ways, we are then raising children that will please us. If we leave God out, then our children lose sight of real authority, grounding, and accountability. Our culture has produced a generation (or two) that have left God out, and it has proven to be very costly.
“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1 (NLT)
Our natural bend as we grow and develop is to assume the position of authority over our own lives; however, God never intended to be left out. He tells us that He has plans for us and we are to seek Him with all our whole heart (and our children, Jeremiah 29:11-13). There is a wonderful narrative of a young man named Joseph that is in Genesis chapters 30-50. We meet Joseph as a very young man. Much of his story speaks to his misfortune and mistreatment at the hands of others; however, he declared to respond as God would have him in every situation, even when tempted. Genesis 39:8-9 (NLT): “But Joseph refused. ‘Look,’ he told her, ‘’my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.’”
Oh, that our children should choose that which pleases God!
