Christian Parenting

This topic has been on my mind a lot lately and with my children being so young I often wonder how in the world I'm suppose to start teaching them about God. I ran across a book at Lifeway called Leading Your Kids to Christ and it is a 30 day devotional with ideas of how to introduce your children to Christ. So far I'm only on day 2 but it has really got me thinking about my own relationship with Christ. I know I have to set an example for them and my realtionship with Christ has been distant lately but how am I suppose to set them up to have a strong faith if my own faith is weak at the moment?

I always thought I had a great relationship with God but of course everybody can always use some work in that area. I still rely on God a lot and pray all of the time but not as much as I use to. I feel so distant from him at the moment but I also know it's my own doing because God never goes anywhere. He doesn't turn his back on me, I'm the one that has pushed him away and I have no clue why.

The second day of devotions opens with this verse from Matthew 17:20 "For I assure you: If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." This is one of my favorite bible verses and everytime I hear or read it I remind myself that I just need to trust in God and have a little faith and give every little thing to God. In this day and age I think it's hard for anybody to do that because we live in such a world where we all feel as if we have to be in control. When something isn't entirely in our hands we just don't think it's right, but we seem to forget that as Christians nothing is every entirely in our hands. God is in control of everything and we just have to have faith and believe that the right thing will happen. God knows what's going to happen before it ever occurs.

My devotion for today is to examine my own faith and I'm finding it very hard for some reason. So, after reading the devotional several times this morning and attempting to reflect on it a few lines stood out to me. I want to share them with you. On page 17 it says 'Thomas Brooks spoke for believers of every generation when he observed, "Christ is the sun, and all the watches of our lives should be set by the dial of his motion." Christ, indeed, is the ultimate Savior of mankind and the personal Savior of those who believe in Him. As his servants, we should place Him at the very center of our lives and at the center of our households. When we do, we are blessed today, tomorrow, and throughout eternity.'

That statement by Thomas Brooks is so very true and I have never thought about God that way. The only difference that I see is that God is like the sun and the moon because he's always around no matter what time of the day or night. Philip Yancey once said "Faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse." Boy is that true! So, I'm going to reflect on these two thoughts for the day and evaluate my own faith. I've got to focus on myself and my relationship with God before I can help my children develop a relationship with God.