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| Photo courtesy of www.missmillmag.com |
Lately at our breakfast table, I've asked the children to randomly select a portion of Scripture they'd like to read aloud and discuss--it could be from the Old or New Testament, familiar or unknown. And, let me just say, it has been such a treat to see which delectable portion of God's Truth will minister to us, equip, teach, and refresh us--oh, and yesterday was such a day!
After opening up the table discussion, my son asked for Exodus chapter ten. Now, most of us guessed that it probably had something to do with the Israelites leaving Egypt, but it was such a powerful portion of Scripture that I'd love to share it with you right now, to my fellow mothers and fathers in the trenches of parenthood.
It opens up with a very familiar scenario--Moses is (once again) asking Pharaoh to release his people so that they may go to worship in the wilderness (remember, we are never freed FROM something without being freed TO something!). Moses warns Pharaoh about an impending plague of locusts if he refuses to let them go, and then he departs. We will pick it up here, starting with Exodus 10:7, when Pharaoh's men begin to reason with Pharaoh about Moses' proposal:
"Then Pharaoh's servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?” 8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. But which ones are to go?” 9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.” 10 But he said to them, “The Lord be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind. 11 No! Go, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence." --Exodus 10:7-11 (emphasis mine)
Did you see what Pharaoh did there? He did not outright refuse Moses...but instead offered out a compromise: you and the Israelite men can go...but not your children. Oh how the Enemy does this to us today, as parents, dear ones! He wants to lock up our faith so that we see it as merely a personal thing...one that need not influence the next generation, for ought they not choose for themselves what to believe?...he reasons. I'd go so far as to say the Enemy disarms us and distracts us, perhaps even making us busy with "good" things like women's ministries and men's ministries...such that we lose sight of the fact that the very lifeblood of faith is within our homes...what we teach and model and the Truth we impart to our little ones? Oh, but this may seem so mundane. Oh, it will probably go largely unnoticed. It may seem so downright ineffective and inefficient. Ought we not leave those things for the "professionals" we figure...for our teachers and our children's and youth pastors to tackle? Oh, but not in God's economy! I am reminded of Moses' exhortation to his people that whatever they do with their children--as they sit and rise, walk together and just go about daily life, we ought to impart God's truth to them:
"5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." --Deuteronomy 6:5-9
I am glad that Moses refused to compromise with Pharaoh! As we continue reading Exodus 10, we see that just as he had warned, the plague of locusts descends upon the land with fury.
Will we do the same, dear parent? Will we refuse to compromise with the Enemy and stay focused upon our task to worship the Lord God alongside of our little ones? I pray and trust that with the help of the Lord, we will!
(For more on the compromises of Pharaoh, be sure to check out this blog from the archives! I trust it will encourage your soul!)
In our faith tradition, we are taught that parents are the leaders of the domestic church. It's our job to teach our children about God and our faith. It's the ultimate sign of parenthood - to give faith, hope, and love to our children through scripture and religious practice. How many are lost because they parents aren't shepherding their littles ones (even if their little ones have their own little ones)? A job of a parent is never over - do everything you can to help them enjoy the fulfillment of the Lord in his promises.
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