The message was from Joshua 24: 14-16. I don't remember at the moment exactly what the primary message was...only what immediately jumped off the page of my Bible to me. This will happen so often, and hopefully it does to you also...you know, when regardless of what the emphasis may have been, the Lord uses His word to impact you through it.
I've been mulling over this idea of parenting on purpose for some time now. I guess because I see so many haphazard approaches to parenting. And in too many cases the child birthed into this world is viewed as more of a burden than a blessing; someone to be tolerated as the offspring of some random physical relationship rather than children to be cherished and nurtured, and to forever bless your life from the moment they arrive.
No, parenting shouldn't just happen. It should be purposeful. There should be a plan, some goals to see accomplished. It's a work in progress, hard work; a mission moving forward on a regular basis. But it's so easy to get busy just getting through each day and not realize that YEARS are slipping by! There is a bountiful harvest to be enjoyed when the seed planted grows and develops into what it is meant to be.
I am so thankful that God impressed Rog and I early on in our marriage to commit to raising a family, not just having children...and there is a significant difference. We wanted to raise them by His standards and principles, with His enabling, and for His glory. That purposeful, determined commitment made all the difference, in the joy we would experience in this journey, in the hope and healing available with failure and heartbreak, in the wonderful reward of seeing adult children now with their own families committed to raising their own children "in the fear and admonition of the Lord". They have made their own commitments to purposeful and determined parenting. As they realized God's plan for them in marriage, it became a heartfelt desire to not just have children, but to have them and see them raised to honor the Lord and serve Him as He saw fit to give them this tremendous stewardship.
So what does all this have to do with Joshua 24? In 24:15 Joshua makes the familiar declaration, "...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." As the leader in his home he charts the course, he establishes the direction, he unveils the path his family will follow. While so many parents wait and hope and even pray their children will choose to follow after the Lord and His will for their lives, their approach is not a planned pro-active one. Joshua took a pro-active approach, set a goal to be reached and set forth how to reach it. He is not making a choice for them in this statement, but if there was a choice to be made by his family it would be to choose NOT to serve the Lord.
Sometimes children will grab hold of the truth presented to them and blossom in response to it without what appears to be a whole lot of effort on anyone's part. Praise God! He is indeed at work in the hearts of individuals regardless! But why take that chance and just hope your children are going to make positive, godly choices simply because they are your children and it is what you assume will happen? Why not take determined action, set out to accomplish certain God-honoring goals, tackle the project with a plan!
Yet it is true, the choice will inevitably be the individual's. And when the parent has purposed to do all within their power to see the child first come to know Christ then choose to live for Him, and the child still rejects, that parent can;
1) know they have followed God in obedience to His plan and program of parenting...they have honored Him and that is the most important thing;
2) trust those children to God's great love and care without the regret of passive parenting, knowing they could have done more to bring them to the God-choice;
3) continue to hope and pray and love, always expecting a prodigal return.
"Your home is the single most powerful arena on earth to change a life for God" (Wilkerson, The Prayer of Jabez). Don't just passively let that opportunity slip by.
