ILLUSTRATION- It amazes me that anyone can
be a parent. Think this statement through with me for just a moment:
You
have to pass a series of tests to drive a car; you don’t have to pass a single test
to be a parent.
You
have to pass a series of tests to graduate from High School; you don’t have to
pass a series of tests to be a parent.
You
have to pass a test to operate a speedboat; you don’t have to pass a test to be
a parent.
You
have to pass a series of tests to be a lawyer, a doctor, an insurance agent,
but you don’t have to take a single test to be a parent!
I
am not a parenting expert, not in the least. Without the help of my loving
wife, there is no possible way that my 2 girls would be as good as they are.
Even though they vex her, she is a
wonderful mother to my children.
While
I’m not a parenting expert, I am a follower of Jesus and because I follow
Jesus, I believe that the Bible has some instructions for me as a parent; for
us as parents.
So
as we begin, I want to give you the key thought of the entire series. If
someone were to ask you on Monday “what the preacher talked about yesterday”, you
can sum up the entire series this way:
“God’s Word
provides clear guidance on how to raise children to be full of faith and
focused on Him.”
Because we are
followers of Jesus, it is our responsibility to study the Scriptures and see
what God has to say about parenting, and God’s Word provides clear guidance on how to raise children
to be full of faith and focused on Him.
The verse that I
would like for us to memorize for this series comes from Proverbs 22:6, and it
tells us to: “Train
a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
(NIV)
Let’s say it
together: “Train
a…” we want you to memorize this scripture verse throughout this
series…
Commenting on
this verse, Max Lucado says: “Show them the way? Yes. Force them to take it? No.”
(Lucado, 2005, 122)
It’s our job as
parents to develop a thirst for the things of God in the lives of our children.
We can’t force them to take that path; we can only show them the way.
And that’s what
this series will attempt to do. We will, by God’s grace, look into His Word for
guidance on
how to raise children to be full of faith and focused on Him.
Now, for those
of you without children, or for those of you who have children, but they have
grown up and moved away: please don’t tune me out!
Instead of
dismissing this series as only for parents, apply the principles that we suggest
to your own life, because it’s your responsibility to “Know Christ and to make Him Known” and
these principles will help you do that very thing.
So with that
said, let’s dive into our message today entitled “The Parent’s Priority”
As parent we
have two priorities. As a not-yet parent, or a never to be parent, you have two
priorities as well. The first priority, no matter who you are, is to LOVE GOD.
This truth-
parent or not- comes to us from Deuteronomy chapters 5 & 6.
Moses had given
the Children of Israel the Ten Commandments, the 10 rules they were to live by,
and just after Moses gave them the big 10, he told the people:
“These are the
commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to
observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,
2 so that you, your
children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as
you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that
you may enjoy long life.” (Deut.6:1-2, NIV)
As we teach our
household to live according to the commands of God, we will be changed. Not
only will we be changed, but so will those who are living under our roofs,
right up to the 3rd generation.
The Bible says: “Loving God means
keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3, NLT2)
As followers of
Jesus, we are to obey God’s commands. As parents, who are followers of Jesus,
we are to obey God’s commands.
This is what
Moses told God’s people to do, and this is still what God’s people are to do.
Look at what
Moses goes on to say in verses 4&5: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love
the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
strength.” (Deut. 6:4-5, NIV)
We are told in
the Scriptures that we are to love the Lord our God with some of our hearts.
Church: one of
the worst things we can do as parents, as not yet parents, as never will be
parents, is to go part-time with God.
I’ll go to
church part time… 2 out of 4 Sunday’s.
I’ll read my Bible part of the week.
Moses didn’t
tell us to love the Lord our God with half of our being. Moses told us that we are to
love the Lord our God with our entire being.
We should enjoy
spending time in God’s word. We should enjoy coming to church each week, we
should enjoy spending time in prayer.
If you don’t
enjoy these things, you need to ask yourself why:
It could be you
need another translation of the Bible; it could be your heart isn’t in the
right place when you come to church, or it could be that you’re trying to pray
for an hour when you need to gradualy work up to praying for an hour.
The priority of
every Christ follower--- parent or not—is to love God with our entire being.
Moses told us that if we did this, we would enjoy a long life and it would
affect in a positive way those doing life with us.
ILLUSTRATION- I came across a study that
underscores this truth a little bit more. It highlighted the importance of
following Christ and going to church.
If mom and dad
went to church—72% of their children will go to church as adults.
If only mom
goes to church—15% of kids will go as adults
If only dad
goes to church—55% of kids will go as adults
If neither mom
nor dad go to church—06% of kids will go as adults.
As a parent I
have a huge responsibility! I have the responsibility to make sure that I love
God with all my heart, soul and strength.
I have to make sure that nothing encroaches in
on my time alone with God, not even my wife.
So I ask you
this morning church: Do
you love God with all your heart, or with some of your heart?
If it’s with some
of your heart, the Good News is that you can commit today to loving God a
little bit more than you did yesterday, and you do this one step at a time.
By changing what
you watch, by changing what you say or as Paul says: “…let God transform you into a new person by
changing the way you think…” (Romans
12:2b, NLT2)
Do you need God to change your
heart in order for you to love Him more?
Our first
priority as a follower of Jesus, as a parent who follows Jesus, is to Love God,
and the second priority is to: “Lead your family.”
This principle
comes from Deuteronomy 6 verses 6-9: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your
hearts.
7 Impress them on
your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the
road, when you lie down and when you get up.
8 Tie them as
symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the
doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (6-9, NIV)
Moses was instructing us to lead
our families spiritually.
We are to talk
about Biblical truths as we are in the car on the way to hockey practice. We
are to talk about biblical truths as we eat supper, when we lie down and when
we get back up again.
Moses was
telling us that teaching the commands of God is to be a lifestyle, it’s not to
happen sporadically; it’s to happen all of the time.
Edward, the Duke
of Windsor once remarked: “The thing that impresses me most about America is the
way the parents obey their children.” (PH, sermon. #1)
Parents: Are you
leading your children, or are your children leading you?
It’s clear from
this section of scripture that parents are to lead their children; parents set
the tone for their families.
How do you do
that? Well, every family is different, you’ll have to figure that out for
yourself, but I can tell you that you will need to lead intentionally.
Allow
me to share with you some of the things that Beth and I do as we lead our kids:
ILLUSTRATION- Every 4 years TWC holds a
pastor and spouse conference called “the Gathering”.
The
first Gathering was held in Orlando Florida in 2007, and Beth and I packed up
our kids, and drove with another couple, to Florida for this conference.
As
we were making our way around the conference, we happened to run into a Pastor
friend of mine and his wife, and she said to me: “You brought your kids to
this?” I smiled at her, and said: “Yes, I’m a family man”.
I
say that to let you know that we vacation with our kids. While it might be nice
to be without them for a night or two, we love them and want to spend time with
them, so we take them with us when we go away.
Here
are a few other things that we do:
I correct my
kids when they talk back to their mother. I will stop what I am doing, and
remind them that they don’t speak that way to my wife.
I
let my kids see me reading my Bible; I let my kids see me on my knees praying.
Beth
and I watch over their education, we limit their TV viewing time, and we send
them outside to get dirty!
We
correct them when they do something wrong, and we have them do chores around
the house. Every day of the week.
It’s
our responsibility as parents to lead our children, not have our children lead
us.
These
are just some of the things that we do. You don’t have to do what we do, but
you will have to do what will work for your family.
You will either lead your kids, or your
kids will lead you… and the Bible says that it’s the parent’s responsibility to
lead their families.
Let’s go back to
our key verse one more time. Proverbs 22:6 says: “Train a child in the way he should go, and
when he is old he will not turn from it.” (NIV)
ILLUSTRATION- In Old Testament times, when
an Israelite woman would have a baby, the Hebrew midwife would be present and she
would take her finger and dip it into a paste and then put the paste on the
baby’s palate, which would initiate a hunger so the baby would nurse. (Adapted from Max L Cure, ch.14 and PH sermon #1)
So, according to
this verse, parents are to initiate, or train their children in the way they
are to go.
We are to put a
craving in their minds for what is right, noble, excellent, praiseworthy…
We train our kids by loving God
with all that we have; and we train our kids by leading them.
These are the 2 priorities
of a parent, so how are you doing parents?
Are you falling
in love with God? Are you spending time in His word? Are you praying for your
kids? Are you creating a thirst for God and the things of God by the life you
are leading?
If your answer
is no, then I want you to know that you can begin to correct that.
It will involve
asking forgiveness for where you’ve failed, and taking the necessary steps to
lead your family intentionally.
For those of you
without children, and for those of you who have children but they have moved
out from your house, your priority is still the same.
You are still
commanded to love God with all you have, and you are still commanded to be
intentional in your relationships with your family, friends and co-workers.
So I’m asking
all of us to consider these two questions:
Are we
demonstrating our love for God to our family/friends/co-workers?
Are we talking
about God and the things of God to those around us?
This was what
Moses commanded the people of God to do, and this command still applies today,
so as we wind down our time together, I want to ask you to respond to the
message in two ways:
If you are
willing to admit that you need help in loving God with all that you have, I’m
going to ask you to raise your hand, and I want to pray with and for you.
If your
relationship with God isn’t want it should be, and you would like to change
that, I would invite you to raise your hand and I’m going to pray for you…
The
second way that you can respond to this message is by admitting that you need
help leading those around you—your children, your family, your friends...
If this describes you, I’m going to ask
you to raise your hand, and I want to pray for you as well.
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