Here recently I have been reminded afresh about the importance of training, pointing and modeling my children toward the path of Christ. God has providentially allowed a few items to serve as a current to bring these items to my front porch.
On my day off (Monday) we did a few errands and then went out to the movies and then to the mall to try to find some new sneakers. As we were loading up in the car I noticed that Bryce (my 13 yr old son) and I were dressed virtually identical. We did not plan it but in addition to sporting the same general clothing genre (athletic chill) we were both wearing our Red Sox hats backwards (the picture above is from a different time, when the connection didn’t click).
It hit me afresh that our children are walking behind us on the same path. In many ways they are thinking like us, walking like us, talking like us, and even dressing like us.
Now I realize that I cannot believe for my kids, however, there is a burden to do everything that I can to help them believe. I so want my kids to think like Christie and I do about Christ, the gospel, the Bible, and the church. But the clock is ticking. By the end of Obama’s first term my oldest son will be looking at colleges. Gulp.
The next morning I was reading in 1 Kings and was reading through how horrible Ahab was. Then I was struck with this:
51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. 52 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. 53 He served Baal and worshiped him and provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger in every way that his father had done. (1 Kings 22.51-53)
Oouch! I am leaving a far bigger impact on my children than just my taste in professional sports teams. Just like Ahab I am teaching my kids about idolatry. I am preaching when I am not preaching. I tell them about what I believe about prayer through my expressions of dependence. I teach them about the Bible by the way I quote and read the Bible. I teach them about the gospel and its power through my own passion about it. I teach them about the righteousness of Christ through pride/humility and the intensity of my grip upon the King’s robe. I am teaching them about women in the way I love their mom. I am teaching them about kindness when I speak to them. I am teaching them parenting when I am with them. I am teaching them about the church’s beauty in how we serve. And on and on the list could go. My whole life around my children is a labatory. And they are getting closer and closer to graduation each day.
In light of my love for my kids and the ever present reminder that parenting is a stewardship, I am compelled to prayerfully and fervently fulfill this duty. The glory of God is worth it. My kids are worth it. And the coming generations of Raymonds need me to be the faithful man of God (contra Ahab) today.
If you are a Mom or Dad, remember, you are on the clock. Learn from the flaming pagan Ahab, your life matters.