I have been in two meetings thus far today where the same concerns were surfaced albeit in different ways. The first meeting was with the men in the Dads Teach the Bible (DTTB) workshop. The second was the weekly conference call on the Kingdom of God Bible study. The issue that came up in both scenarios was dealing with our children Biblically as we are living life with them.
In the first group the issue presented through the men sharing their struggles with getting their kids engaged in the Scripture. In the second it was one of the men sharing a significant, painful challenge with one of his adult children.
The central point of the DTTB workshop, the Fathers to Sons Workshop, the book and workbook I wrote, and the overall thrust of Entrusting Truth, is that in order to have an impact on our kids, we have to have worked first and foremost on ourselves. In order for us to respond Biblically in the moment we have to have studied and applied the Bible before the moment. When something comes up in our lives whether it is a challenge our teen is facing with purity, or our adult child with some life altering event, we do not have the option to push pause. We cannot step aside and go study up on the issue come back and reengage. The opportunity is gone. The teachable moment has passed. Further, when our world is rocked by some drastic action by one with whom we are close, if we do not have a firm foundational walk with God built on time in His Word, our ability to navigate those treacherous waters is sorely diminished. We have to prep before we are called into action.
It is too late to go to the shooting range to hone our skill when the battle has begun.
The central point of the DTTB workshop, the Fathers to Sons Workshop, the book and workbook I wrote, and the overall thrust of Entrusting Truth, is that in order to have an impact on our kids, we have to have worked first and foremost on ourselves. In order for us to respond Biblically in the moment we have to have studied and applied the Bible before the moment. When something comes up in our lives whether it is a challenge our teen is facing with purity, or our adult child with some life altering event, we do not have the option to push pause. We cannot step aside and go study up on the issue come back and reengage. The opportunity is gone. The teachable moment has passed. Further, when our world is rocked by some drastic action by one with whom we are close, if we do not have a firm foundational walk with God built on time in His Word, our ability to navigate those treacherous waters is sorely diminished. We have to prep before we are called into action.
It is too late to go to the shooting range to hone our skill when the battle has begun.
A consistent life of immersion in the Word of God to develop our own convictions and shape our lives (see God's prescription in Deut.6:4-7, or all of Deuteronomy for that matter)is absolutely essential for life in this world. Survival training without which we and our families will perish. It's hard work, and the Adversary, our flesh and our cultural values and standards ("the world") are all against us. We don't have the time or the energy, we won't ever "find" it. We must take
ReplyDeleteit - from other apparently urgent matters, more "fun" activities, from good things, subtle things. We must do it!
We will never know it all, of course. We'll never be able to anticipate and prepare for all eventualities. But if we've laid our foundation - in ourselves and our children (or anyone else we're serving) when the time comes the Holy Spirit can step in and "bring to your remembrance all that" He has taught us that we need at the time. (John 14:26)