Yesterday was a very special service for me. I felt the Lord had given me an idea, and instead of tucking it away and saying, “I can’t do that,†I said, “why not?†The preaching series is called Yellow, Red, Orange (inspired by Reggie Joiner and his book entitled Think Orange) and I am trying to teach how God has designed the church and the home and how they are to work together.
So this Sunday was Red, and my goal was to show how parents aren’t perfect. There are no perfect parents in Scripture (excluding Jesus, Mary, and Joseph). Yet, God seeks to show the world His story of redemption, grace, and unconditional love through imperfect people (and their imperfect families).
Also, in Duet. 6 God described through Moses how important it is for those who have been freed from slavery are not to forget that “God is One†– He must be number one. So God seeks to tell His story through imperfect people as His people seek to live for. But there is also one big next step that we miss – that being that we are to take our children along with us in this learning journey. We seek after God, and we take our kids with us, and as we go we talk about what we are doing, what happened, how we feel, and point them constantly to Christ. We are to try things for God that stretch us, challenge us, and take us out of our comfort zone – so that when we grow, so do our kids. They see their mom and dad doing things that require faith, and spiritual strength and courage – so they are willing to follow their example.
To illustrate this process, I connected climbing ropes to the ceiling of where we have church, and Caleb and I climbed to the top (of our spiritual mountain). He and I touched the rafter of a 15-20 foot ceiling, and we did it together.
So today, let me encourage you to quit trying to be perfect and cooperate with what the Holy Spirit is seeking to do in your heart. Follow Him and He will seek to push you to do something great for Him. Take your kids with you, and talk about it as you go. Let me know what happens.
It was a wonderful illustration! It can be hard as a parent of young adults too! I watched one of my own do their own first "solo climb" this past week. It was really tough to sit by and watch, but then I noticed God had the safety line.
Denise
I couldn't have climbed with Caleb if I didn't have two friends to hold the safety lines. We need eachother to climb our spiritual mountains. Sometimes we climb, sometimes we hold the rope so others can climb.
God bless
Drew