Be Sure to Leave It Where They Can Find It
“I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.” Psalm 89:1
When we have something important we want to give our kids, we want to leave it where they can find it, especially if we’re not going to be there to point it out. Whether it be a special note or gift, or maybe important paperwork in the event something happens, we don’t want it to be a mystery and we don’t want to make it difficult. If it’s important, we tell them exactly where the items are so they can easily access them, why would we not?
But do we do the same with our faith? If our kids went looking, would they easily find it? Would they be able to quickly point out where our hope is anchored? Or would they have to hunt for it?
There is nothing more important than sharing our faith with our sons and daughters, nothing. If we would be called home to heaven, what would they find as they go through our belongings? What would they write about how we lived? What was so evident in our lives as the most important to us?
Let’s be intentional about sharing our love for the Lord and the evidence of His faithfulness in our lives. Let’s shift the paradigm of our day, our life to testify of God’s goodness and presence that redeems us and transforms us. Let’s be sure to leave behind a legacy of faith for our sons and daughters so that the most precious thing we pass to them is faith in Jesus Christ and hope for eternity.
“Father You are faithful. All throughout my life You’ve been present and working, even when I could not see Your hand or when I was too distracted to make you a priority. I pray that from today onward, I would live in such a way that my sons and daughters would know that my faith in Jesus is the most precious thing I could share with them. I pray that they will see You in me. Lord, let there be no question about what I value and prioritize. Don’t allow me to be distracted by the busyness of this world, the charms of what it promises but cannot deliver, or the lie that my value lies in what I accomplish. My value lies in who I am…and who I am is a child of the Most High God. Lord, I want my sons and daughters to embrace You fully and pursue You daily. Help me to model that to them. Let them see me reading Your Word. Let them be confident that I am praying for them daily and that they can share any burden, need or request and I will take it to the Throne and intercede for them. Help me to memorize Your word so that it becomes part of my language and the Holy Spirit can stir and pour out what I’ve committed to head and heart so that others can be encouraged. Lord, help me to leave my faith where my kids can easily find it and help them to treasure it as they most precious thing I could pass along to them. I pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.”
Impressions
Deuteronomy 6:5-8 “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 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.”
Did you ever notice your little one when they first woke up? Maybe they slept with their face against a favorite toy or on a patterned pillow and the lines of the fabric shown on their little faces. They looked funny and silly with wrinkles and lines embedded into their skin from pressing against that fabric. And when we got down on the rug to play with them our knees pressed into the carpet. We had fun, only to get up and realize the pattern of the weave impressed on our knees. Then there was the finger paint. Hands eagerly pressed into the paint and then pressed down onto the paper. The precious handprints were left behind, but the paint still clung to the skin and found its way into the cracks and crevices and under the fingernails. Despite washing up, the evidence of leaning into the paint was still present and visible. Oh, we can try and soothe the marks or scrub the paint away, but the impressions remain and they don’t fade quickly.
It’s much the same in our spiritual lives. You see, the things we lean into or rest upon leave an impression. What we choose to spend time with marks us and it starts to mold us to it, whether good or bad. Then others see the impact of our choices and where we’ve spent our time. The impressions don’t fade quickly. They remain for others to see.
Here’s a question for us as parents….What is it that we’re impressing on our children? On our grown sons and daughters? When they spend time with us, what is it that they carry away with them? Can they see that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and strength? Do they know that God’s word is so deeply impressed in our own hearts and minds that it marks us for everything else and that when anyone looks at us, they see the imprint of God on our lives? Do our sons and daughters bear the marks of fellowship with the family of God when they leave us to go to their own home?
Friends, the more we look around us, the more we see the beginnings of the end. We see wars and rumors of wars, we see people mocking God and living in lavish sin, openly and defiantly. We see believers being harassed and persecuted. We can’t be ‘fence sitters’ ; we must choose wisely and live intentionally. What we’ve chosen to rest in and lean into will leave an impression on us for the world to see. It will give evidence of which side we’ve chosen.. Is it leaving the impression of Christ or of the world? We can’t ‘do it later’. Time is running out. What example are we setting?
Oh friends, we spend a lot of time praying for our sons and daughters, as we should. But let’s not neglect praying for ourselves and for other parents. We need to stand with conviction and be an example of those who do not lean on their own understanding but trust in the Lord. We need to set the standard for our sons and daughters and in our walk, our talk and our lives, exemplify that we love the Lord our God with all of our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength. We will not compromise. We will not ‘talk the talk’ yet bear the impression of the world on our faces…and our hearts. How will our sons and daughters follow? Will they choose the impression of Christ or of the world?
“Father, Today I choose You. I choose to follow You, obey Your Word and live my life in a way that gives evidence to those around me that You are my Lord and Savior. I pray today that You would help me to “Trust in the Lord with all [my] heart and do not lean on [my] own understanding.” (Prov. 3:5) I pray for other parents today that You would strengthen them to stand firm. Lord, help each of us to impress Your commandments on our children. Let our conversations be pleasing to You and edifying to those who hear. Lord, let Your Word and Your Truth be what is impressed on each of our hearts and lives so that when others see us, they see the marks of Jesus. Keep us safe and unharmed by this world. Keep us from sin and from oppression by the enemy. I know that Satan would love nothing more than to destroy believers’ testimonies and disrupt families. Guard us Lord so that we can be salt and light in this world. Raise up the next generation to follow after You with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength. May Jesus be glorified. In His name I pray, amen.”
Pray without ceasing.
Faithful Through the Generations
Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,”
Often when we gather as families, we reminisce about significant events, fun times, funny things that happened to us. We laugh and recall with joy those things that stand out in our memories. But do we take time to recount the ways God has been good to us? Do we really share the miraculous and mundane ways God made Himself known?
Friends, if we are believers, we are building a legacy of faith for our children, grandchildren and generations yet to come, if the Lord tarries. It’s hard to imagine next week, but a thousand generations? Yet, this is what God promises!! It’s likely very few people in history thought their story would have significance, yet, how beautiful is it to read stories of those who lived faithfully for the Lord? What about the stories of those who left all they knew to carry the gospel to another land and people? They were doing what God called them to- yet we learn so much about His faithfulness in the midst of their daily obedience. What is it that we want our children, grandchildren and future generations to know about God’s faithfulness to us?
Let’s be bold and share those stories of God’s faithfulness. Write them down. Share them with your family. Record them where they can be heard. Someone, someday, will read or hear them and be encouraged. They will become the treasured stories that evidence God’s goodness and faithfulness to your family through the generations. What accounts of God’s faithfulness can you recall today?
Today, take some time to write out the accounts of God’s faithfulness to you...then share it with your sons and daughters. It may feel awkward at first, but go on and do it. The more you testify, the more excited and appreciative you will be of God’s faithfulness and the more you will come to love Him. Create those ‘Stones of Remembrance’ so that when future generations ask “What is that?” You can beautifully testify to God’s loving faithfulness to you...and to them!
Pray without ceasing!