Day 223 – Never give up on teaching your children the ways of the Lord and how to fight off the ways of the world.
Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 50 – 52
Jeremiah 51:11a “Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields!”
In Proverbs, an abundance of children is like a quiver full of arrows, and in Ephesians, a shield of faith is to be taken up against the fiery schemes of the Devil. We, parents, caretakers, and teachers of children are to take advantage of the opportunity we have to sharpen our children by the wisdom of the Lord and take up our shield of faith in the battle before us.
Over the past week, as I saw all of the beautiful pictures of everyone’s first day of school, I was reminded how quickly life passes and how children will be under our roof for only a short time longer. I think about the parents, schools, and world out there that are fighting over the attention of our children. I have spoken with mothers who are at their wits end with their children, wondering if they should just let their children do as they please and hope it all turns out alright. Absolutely NOT!
The job God gave us was to raise children in the light of God’s Word and in the way of the Lord. Teach, teach, and teach some more the Word of God so they know Truth. Guide them in the way of righteousness and love to sharpen them as arrows. When we shoot them into this world we want them to pierce the darkness with light. It will get hard, and our children will make bad decisions, but we too are flawed. However, let this encourage us to never give up. Instead we should take up our shield of faith and help our children fight off the evil of the world.
My husband and I constantly take up the shield of faith for our children, but we also falter on sharpening the arrows of our quiver. We may do ok for a time, but at some point Satan makes us think we’re to busy to read and go through prayer requests and pray. That’s why as school comes back in session we commit to pray, wake our children every morning with enough time to read the Bible, open discussion over the dinner table to sharpen the arrows of our quiver and take up our shield of faith.
Running 2 Fly 