Morning Musing from January 8, 2020
Thinking about how important childhood is because it can have such a lasting effect on adulthood.
Parents, and anyone who cares for children take advantage of the opportunity to mold a life. The way you treat that child and how you interact with them will have a lasting effect.
Having ministered to many adults that are trying to find their way, trying to understand God and His will for their life, trying to connect with Him trying to make sense of this world...
I saw a connection between adults that were never really shown or taught the loving, Fatherly nature of God... Who didn't have parents that prayed with them, that didn't teach them how to talk to God as unto a loving Father, parents that didn't take the time to impress upon their children the reality and nature of God; a balance between His severity (righteous judgment against sin) and His amazing loving-kindness..... Children that didn't grow up knowing that God was there and they could take comfort in Him and that He really cares for them have a very hard time connecting with Him as adults, have a very hard time believing He loves them and forgives them. Their main motivation for seeking Him is fear of hell. They spend their days picking the petals of "He loves, He loves me not" depending on every spiritual failure or achievement they make.
It is a very sad reality many suffer.
No matter how someone grows up though, I know God is able to heal and make anyone whole.
God is able, but we are also able to take the opportunity He has given us to teach children while they are very young.
I remember when I was little I was taught a prayer to say before bed that went something like this:
"Now I lay me down to sleep, If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."
I would also add my own thoughts and ask God to put a bubble over all my family, the house, and the yard ( so the dog would be protected too). I took much comfort in this prayer and seeing the bubble of protection in my imagination. I knew from a very young age God is love. I would talk to Him as a child and sing Him love songs. My sense of God was warm and comforting.
When I got older and fell into sin I knew that my sin distanced the Spirit of God from me and eventually that's what broke me. I couldn't bear the distance.
Even though my life was very secular. The little bit about God that I was taught and the prayers were foundational for my future and drawing me back to the God of Love that I experienced as a child.
Friends, invest in your children. The impact we have on children can last through eternity.
They don't need video games and amusement parks, toys, and entertainment. They learn to desire those things when they are rejected over and over again by adults who won't spend quality time with them. They need people to give them undivided attention, people that will take time to build a relationship with them founded in God and the nature of God. Don't just teach them with words, teach them in deed by being Christ-like. Take them to nursing homes to comfort the elderly and widows, teach them to show compassion to others. Teach them to invest in people rather than vain, selfish pursuits.
This world is working hard to capture the minds of your children. The children will shape the future. It's very important and the enemy knows how important. Don't leave the children to their own destructive imaginations. Invest your time in them, you won't regret it.
January 8, 2021
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