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Take Heed to Yourselves
There is no shortage of parenting advice for busy fathers and mothers today. You won't have to look too hard to find something that will cater to your child's developmental needs. Bookshops have racks full of "How To" books so we can all be better parents. The market offers a host of enrichment courses that will teach our young ones how to draw, act, dance, cook, speak, sing and swim. With all these, you would expect the next generation to be more capable, more gracious, and more loving. If that is true, why are we having more problems with our children and youths than ever before? Have we missed something somewhere along the way?
To be sure, the world today is a treacherous place to raise children. But just in case we think we have it more difficult from the people of Bible times, the children of Israel also faced the same challenges as they entered Canaan Land. Yet, we don't find "Parenting101" anywhere in the Pentateuch. God's instruction to the Hebrew parents was candidly simple бн take heed to yourselves, take heed to yourselves, take heed to yourselves! It is only as we get ourselves on the right track that we can lead our children down the right path. Parenting doesn't begin with children. Parenting begins with parents! What then must we take heed of?
Our Relationship with God. Deut 4:9 says to take heed of ourselves lest we forget about God and all He has done for us. The hectic pace of society makes it so easy for God to be pushed out of our lives. But take heed! If you stray from God, you will lead your children astray. Soon, God doesn't feature in your family anymore. Many parents have no relationship with God, and they wonder why their families are in such a mess. Parenting is no easy task. If God is not the One showing you how to raise your children, who is?
Our Relationship with God's Word. God's instructions are precise, given for our good. If we don't know God's Word, we won't know what is good for us. Soon, we will find ourselves bowing to other gods. Worse yet, we even 'sacrifice' our children at the altars of these gods of materialism, humanism and secularism. It is so sad that many children today are suffering the consequences of their parents' sins. When that happens, no parenting book or enrichment class can offer any help.
Our Relationship with the World. We are to take heed to ourselves because our hearts are prone to being deceived. Make no mistake! The ways of the world are extremely attractive and many Christians are compromising and rationalizing their actions in the name of the grace and love of God. If we have no relationship with God and His Word, we will have a wrong relationship with the world. The Bible says we are in this world, but we are not to be of this world (Jn 17:16). Yet, many Christians live no differently from their worldly contemporaries! Someone once said, "If you don't stand for anything, you will fall for everything." Parents who are deceived in their hearts will in turn deceive their children.
Parents can only take their children as far as they themselves have traveled. If you don't pray or study God's Word, you won't be able to teach your children to do the same. You can pay someone to teach your children, but no one is going to teach them how to have a right relationship with God. This spiritual responsibility lies with parents. However, if we obey and serve God with all our hearts, our children will be blessed. Deut 12:28 says, "Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God." Is that not better than the best school, the best enrichment class, or the most comprehensive insurance plan?
Take heed to yourselves.
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