Yesterday as we dug into Hebrews 4:11-13, we looked at the Word and its purpose. Living. Active. Sharp. Piercing. Penetrating. Surgical. Discerning. Judge. These truths aren’t just for grown-ups! Think of this text in light of your parenting.
Throughout Scripture, parents are called to teach our children the Life-giving Word of God as we walk along the way. Before having children of my own, I envisioned this happening in very special moments as we all sat down and they listened intently to the wisdom that I had to bestow upon them. Now, I know this sounds crazy, but that’s not exactly how it plays out around here. In fact, I’ve found that the times that I can be the most frustrated by their little sinful hearts are the exact times that I desperately NEED to speak the Life-giving Word to them.
So, as any aspiring mom, I worked through my frustration at their sin so that I could speak the Word directly and at opportune times. I equipped myself with timely scripture and resources to help in my efforts. Recently, God began to show me what my sinful heart has done in this process.
You see, I have attempted to take God off His throne and put myself at the center. I saw that the Word is able to pierce and discern, so I began to use it for my own desires. My idol became obedient children. You know the kind: Those children who are nice, quiet, tidy, and quick to obey (especially in public). That’s what I wanted. My means: Nothing short of God’s Word plus a little bit of guilt.
This is the anti-gospel. I was suffocating my children with law, law, law. I was smothering them with rules they couldn’t obey and then asking why they couldn’t do it. All the while, I failed constantly to obey God’s law myself. I failed to show my children the BUT GOD (Ephesians 2:4) in scripture that I was enjoying.
The law is our tutor. It is our big arrow to point us directly to our Savior. I had failed to give my children grace because I had attempted to be the “thought and intentions facilitator”. I was dispensing scripture that would make them quiet, quick to obey, and tidy little children outwardly. But I can’t do what God’s Word promises it will:
For the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
Here is what God has shown me, and what I pray He continues to remind me of: My words are not sharper than any two-edged sword. My words are not piercing to the division of soul and spirit. My words are not discerning the thoughts and intentions of my children’s thoughts. It’s not up to me. I can’t create this in my children. I can’t even fabricate it in myself.
BUT GOD. God’s Word is sufficient to do it. We do not need to guilt our children into outward obedience. We need to speak God’s Word into their little ears and minds. We need to encourage them with the Life-giving Word of God. We need to show them grace. We need to cover them with the gospel. Then we need to step back as God’s Word discerns the thoughts and intentions of their little hearts.
Annie
