Giving Knowledge

I find reminders around me constantly that reveal how much our generation does not believe that there are any absolutes in life, or any true sense of right or wrong.  What a difficult time to train up children...and yet God gives us everything we need to do the job, IF we turn to Him and trust in Him.  So how do we navigate training our children when there are no clear answers around us?  Hosea 4:6 says that, "My (God's) people are destroyed from lack of knowledge."  That means that when God's people did not understand what was needed, they did not survive.  This refers to people who were personally acknowledging God, not just the general population.  If that is the case, what is the knowledge we - and our children - need to have, in order to avoid destroying our lives?

I believe with all my heart the knowledge we need is an understanding of God's truth, found in the Bible.  God, as Creator, made us and our world to function on biblical values, and when those are ignored, we slide into chaos - just as we are seeing demonstrated all around us.  BUT that does not mean we have to follow anyone down that slippery slope, nor allow our children to follow either.  God told us right from the beginning, that our job as parents was to lay the foundations in our children's hearts DAILY - as we rise, as we walk, as we lie down...it is serious business and should be of highest priority in our families.  This is the true foundation of eternal value - which also helps put perspective to ballet lessons, hockey and anything else we feel is of value for our children.  I am not saying those things can't be part of our lives, but we need to be sure that laying God's foundations remains top priority.  These are the formative years, when we have a brief window and privilege to lay values based on God's truths that can last a lifetime and help them navigate the waters they will have to face.

Why are these foundations so key?  God has promised in the book of Isaiah that when His word goes out, it will not return void but accomplish what He desires.  We know that God desires godly values and principles to be planted into the hearts of our children, but it doesn't happen without serious effort.  I don't mean that the experience is "serious", but we should find ourselves so full of God's Word ourselves that it flows out into the practical applications of life with our children.  I had  a real life example of this recently with my four year old, as he came to me and shared something special; he said, "Mommy, I wanted to take something that didn't belong to me, but I didn't, because I remembered that God says we shouldn't steal." I was blessed in that moment, because it was God and His Word that did not return void - not my wonderful parenting skills.  More and more, I am convinced that the only hope for our children is the Word of God planted deeply in them.

Will we see the benefits right away?  Absolutely not!  That same little four year old was guilty of hitting his sister less than an hour later.  He knew that God's Word says we are to be loving and kind, but as I brought Scripture to apply to a new situation, his heart was stirred and he again became aware of what he had done wrong and made things right.  I wish I could tell you that there is an easier way, but there isn't - it is God's truth applied over and over and over again in our children's lives that is going to reap the harvest.
May we not be found part of the people who are destroyed for lack of knowledge, but instead be like the people described in Psalm 1, where it says, "(They) are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in season and whose leaf does not whither.  Whatever they do, prospers."