Monday, February 14, 2011

Family Connection 02.14.2011

Family Connection
02.14.2011

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your Word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”-Psalm 119:9-11

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”-Psalm 119:105

When I was younger I was learning about the ocean and realized it was pitch black on the bottom of the deep ocean. I was having trouble with the concept of pitch black so my dad took me into a part of our house that didn’t have any windows and turned off all the lights. It was so dark that I literally couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. If my dad hadn’t been right beside me, I would have been frightened and disoriented even though I knew we were in our house. Apparently this is something I have never forgotten.

Whether we know it or not, we live in a dark world and without the love of God and the light of His Word we would also feel disoriented and possibly frightened. Do the children in your life know the importance of God’s Word? Do the children in your life see you reading your Bible for yourself? Do the children in your life observe you basing your decisions on God’s Word? Do you really see God’s Word as a lamp to your feet and light to your path?

We have such an awesome responsibility in front of us as we try to model a living, growing faith in Jesus Christ to the children in our lives. Just as the simple illustration my dad gave me has stayed with me my entire life, when I model godly behavior to my children; I can hope that will stay with them their entire lives.

This week I would encourage you to make a conscious decision to model godly behavior and practices to the children in your life this week. Talk to them about the importance of relying on God’s Word, but also give them opportunities to see you read the Bible for yourself and put those words in action (I want you to know that we are consistently encouraging the children in our ministry to read their Bibles for themselves). Thankfully God has given us a light in this dark world and a path for us to follow. My encouragement and challenge for each of us is to open up His Word and turn that light on for ourselves.

Walking by your side,
Brett Humphrey
Pastor H