Somebody’s Got To Be the Parent!

Judges 2:10-14

10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.

11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim:

12 And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger.

13 And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.

14 And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.

I am totally distressed about the condition of parenthood today!

Even in the safe confines of my own church I hear children say things to adults that I would have been severely punished for “back in the day.” No respect – no manners. What in the world is going on.

It wasn’t that long ago when I raised my own children. They were expected to say, “Yes Ma’am,” and “No sir.” They were expected to respect their elders and say their pleases and thank yous. You know, just the simple acknowledgments that our society hadn’t completely slipped into an abyss.

But fast forward to 2009 – what are parents teaching their children? What expectations are they requiring of them. That’s a funny word in and of itself; require. It’s as though parents have taken a sabbatical, a vacation, to another planet. How do we expect our children to turn out to be productive citizens (let alone true followers of God) if they can’t even conquer the basic politeness of our western civilization?

The Old Testament, here in the book of Judges, gives us a harsh, but attention getting illustration of what happens when parents stop parenting when they should stand up and be parents! For some unknown reason (other than lust or apathy) the children of Israel failed miserably to teach their children the “old paths” of God. They had Moses’ law and they knew all they needed to know to serve and please God.

Evidently that wasn’t good enough. Maybe they had their social get-togethers or their date nights out – or whatever. The bottom line is that they put themselves or their desire not to infringe upon their children’s creativity or their nauseous over-rewarding in place of teaching their children the simple basics of right and wrong and following God and His Word.

The result: Total society failure. So bad that the Lord delivered the generation into the hands of their enemies. Look at the gods they were serving; Baal and Ashtaroth. Not your “run of the mill” kind of gods but the most wicked and vile gods they could find. Talk about your rebellious generation. And who is to blame. The buck has to stop somewhere. Well my friend, I’ll tell you, the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the parents of that generation – that’s where.

We see similar things happening today. “Oh, we don’t want to spank little Johnny. It might stunt his creativity…” Oh my goodness parents – WAKE UP! Little Johnny is going to grow up into big Johnny and he’s going to rule your household – not you. He’s going to tell you how its going to be – not you. He’s going to make the rules, set the tone, make the schedule. All of this because you blindly decided one day to listen to the wisdom of this world instead of the ageless wisdom of God. Proverbs 13:24 says, “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.”

SOMEBODY HAS TO BE THE PARENT!

Why not you? Why don’t you pick up your Bible and see what God has to say about raising children. I can personally testify that I raised 3 children according to the Scriptures and all 3 of them still love and serve God. You’re playing the part of the fool if you think the psychiatrists have the answer. Your not in touch with reality if you think a child psychologist can help you raise them right. The reality is that only God’s Word is reliable. Only God’s Word can make a difference in your life and your children’s.

So make a determination in your heart right now to “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Do it God’s way and there will be no regrets. Will there be pain? Yes. Will there be difficulty? Yes. But it is always better to do it the way that our loving heavenly Father instructs over the way of the world.

Somebody has to be the parent – make it you today!

I hope that this meditation encourages you in a special way today. May God richly bless you!

October 6, 2009 | Categories: Meditations In the Word | Tags: Bible, children, christian, dad, faith, God, inspiration, Jesus, mom, obey, parenting, preaching, reflection, religion, Scripture, sermon, spirituality | Comments Off