I was raised going to church.
I thought it was boring. Except when I could pass notes to my friends and "talk"
to them in sign language, but that only happened when my mother wasn't watching!
I did enjoy the youth activities-the beach trips, the hikes, the Saturday
afternoons out with my friends, but the rest of it seemed like nothing more than
a ritualistic exercise, a bunch of rules that made me feel "different", that
stood in the way of having fun.
To be perfectly honest with you, the big question on my mind was this: "Why do
we need this stuff?" You see, I knew lots of other kids who didn't go to church,
and neither they nor their families seemed any different from me and mine. So
why bother?
I wasn't the only one asking these questions. My brothers and most of my friends
eventually stopped going to church. I didn't stop going. I was kind of scared to
NOT go, but it all seemed so distant, so vague. If this was really such an
important part of life, then why wasn't it more meaningful to me?
I didn't come to know Jesus as my Lord, Savior and friend until I was in my 3rd
decade. Only then did I realize what I had missed. I now know that my pre-Jesus
years could have been so much richer, fuller, and freer, that I could have
avoided so many of the problems that I still battle, had I only developed a
relationship with Him as a child.
Friends, being raised in church isn't enough! It didn't work for me or my
friends, and it doesn't work for the thousands of young people who leave the
church every year! If we want our children to grow up knowing the Lord, they
have to learn to stop playing church and learn what Christianity is all about.
They have to learn that being a child of God isn't about DOING something; it's
about what's already been DONE-Christ's death on the cross and His desire to
give us His Spirit, to guide and direct us, to be our friend. In order to keep
our children in the church, they need to learn to have a personal friendship
with Him!
Remember: "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his
master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I
learned from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15 NIV)
Jesus wants to be our Friend, and when we let Him, we have access to everything
that He and the Father have access to! But how do you go about teaching those
kids this vital concept?
I'm afraid there is no simple answer to that question, but we will be exploring
some ideas that have worked for me and my family in upcoming devotionals. The
point I want you all to go away with today is this: If we want our children to
stay in the Lord, a personal relationship with Jesus MUST be encouraged!
The remainder of this devotional looks at some specific things that we've done
as a family to encourage our boys to know and love the Lord:
1. Encourage a personal, quiet time with Jesus every day. As soon as my boys
were old enough to read their little picture Bibles, I encouraged them to not
just read, but to ask God to tell them what message the various passages had for
them.
2. Have family worship. Children are never too young to begin! One of our
favorite worship exercises is this: "How have you experienced Jesus today?" It
gets the kids to think beyond what they are experiencing. It makes them start to
realize that Jesus is actively involved in every aspect of their lives.
3. Model in your own lives the truths that God is teaching you. You can't teach
it to them if you haven't learned it yourself!
4. Encourage your kids to talk their problems over with you. Then you can guide
them back to spiritual principles and remind them of what the Lord can do for
them.
5. Bring God into everyday family problems and decisions. Whenever a decision
must be made, encourage everyone to pray about it and then to report back. If
you let God guide, He'll tell the same thing to everyone in the family, and the
decision is easy to make. This will encourage your children to get into the
habit of taking all of their own problems to the Lord.
6. Encourage your kids to take a stand in faith. Remind them of what the Lord
has already done for them, and be willing to take a stand in faith yourself!
These are just a few basic ideas for helping your child build a relationship
with Jesus, and again, we will be looking at some of these in more depth in
upcoming devotionals. To conclude this devotional, I want to leave you with a
specific example of how my 15 year-old learned to have a relationship with
Jesus.
When he was 7 years old, my son suffered from severe insomnia. We tried
everything and nothing helped. I was frustrated, and I am ashamed to admit that
I didn't immediately take this problem to the Lord. When I finally did however,
God gave me the solution. He told me to sit with my son every night and talk him
through an imagery exercise where he would imagine himself walking and talking
with Jesus. Through the imagery, he learned to hand his problems over to Jesus,
he learned what the still-calm voice of Jesus sounded like, and he learned to
love the One who could help him get to sleep! We called it his "walk with
Jesus". My son soon became independent with this exercise, and now, 8 years
later, he still goes on his "walk with Jesus" every night.
One day recently I asked him what it was that he thought had been the most
helpful in teaching him to have a relationship with Jesus. His response? His
"walks with Jesus"! Imagine that! God used childhood insomnia to draw my son to
Him!
God bless each of you abundantly as you seek to guide the kids in your life in
the ways of the Lord!
Lyn Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
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The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.