Daily Devotions
Mixed Messages to Our Kids
Reading for April 26th: 2 Kings 15-17
So these nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children's children--as their fathers did, so they do to this day.
2 Kings 17:41
No one is going to be more influential in our children's lives than us, and we are not only influencing our children, but our grandchildren as well.
What kind of legacy are we leaving? Are we raising a generation of children who go to church but their loyalty is really somewhere else?
Notice that the emphasis in our text is not on teaching but rather on behavior. We do not know what they taught their children. The text does not say. They may have taught their children to love God with all their heart, soul, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).
The implication from the text is that they did exactly this. So these nations feared the LORD... (this is what they taught), and also served their carved images... (this is what they did).
Are we sending mixed messages? What comes first? The kingdom of God or deadlines at work? God's work or games this weekend? The Lord's mission or the home remodel or fishing on the lake or shopping or... (you fill in the blank)
Father God, help us to fear you before our children, not just with our words but with our whole selves.
