The Watchers
I don't really like horror movies that much so if you think this blog is about a horror movie with a similar title....you are wrong. In fact, I will tell you why I don't like them. I saw the Wizard of Oz when I was four or five years old for the first time. I was having a great time until the appearance of the wicked witch of the west. When her face took up the entire tv screen I decided then that I would never like witches forever. I saw witcbes for many years following that awful scene, and in all the wrong places!
No, the watcher to which I'm referring are those who are watching my life. We all have watchers who are guided by the reactions we have toward the good and bad things that happen to us in life and the subsequent decisions we make regarding our trials. If you are a parent than this is never more evident than it is with our children. They are watching us all the time, especially when we wouldn't think they are. Why? Because it is a purely natural way for them to learn. In the animal world, the baby lion watches the mother or the dad hunt and protect it's own. They then mimic those actions until one day those actions become their own.
Similarly our children are observing mom and dad in how they react to life...every day. In the good and bad moments our kids are learning what should make them happy, sad, mad, or discouraged. They take all their cues from the ones who put food on their table and tuck them in bed at night. I Cor 11:1 says:
Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.
I remember like it was yesterday being right in the middle of raising our four children. All of my children know and love the Lord today but I can assure you it wasn't because they had perfect parents. However, I can tell you that I knew they were watching everything my wife and I did! When they were in the middle of grade school and high school we were in ministry. We had some things happen to us that were simply shocking to us spiritually. I'm talking about life-changing stuff that was perpetrated by other believers. We knew at the time that our kids were watching just how we would respond to injustice and downright un-Christlike behavior by fellow Christians. We decided then that they were our most important responsibility. Consequently, we worked hard at modeling forgiveness and patience toward those who hurt our family. This is never easy but it is absolutely necessary if you want your kids to know how to react to the very same things they too are going to face in life! They need the tools to know how to make the right decisions. Isaiah said of the coming Messiah's upbringing,
Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. (Isa 7:15)
Mom and Dad, let me encourage you to day to remember that the most important thing you possess in life are your kids. They are your first and most important ministry, bar none! Give them what Isaiah spoke of here so they can make good decisions by refusing the evil and choosing the good responses and choices in their lives.
No, the watcher to which I'm referring are those who are watching my life. We all have watchers who are guided by the reactions we have toward the good and bad things that happen to us in life and the subsequent decisions we make regarding our trials. If you are a parent than this is never more evident than it is with our children. They are watching us all the time, especially when we wouldn't think they are. Why? Because it is a purely natural way for them to learn. In the animal world, the baby lion watches the mother or the dad hunt and protect it's own. They then mimic those actions until one day those actions become their own.
Similarly our children are observing mom and dad in how they react to life...every day. In the good and bad moments our kids are learning what should make them happy, sad, mad, or discouraged. They take all their cues from the ones who put food on their table and tuck them in bed at night. I Cor 11:1 says:
Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.
I remember like it was yesterday being right in the middle of raising our four children. All of my children know and love the Lord today but I can assure you it wasn't because they had perfect parents. However, I can tell you that I knew they were watching everything my wife and I did! When they were in the middle of grade school and high school we were in ministry. We had some things happen to us that were simply shocking to us spiritually. I'm talking about life-changing stuff that was perpetrated by other believers. We knew at the time that our kids were watching just how we would respond to injustice and downright un-Christlike behavior by fellow Christians. We decided then that they were our most important responsibility. Consequently, we worked hard at modeling forgiveness and patience toward those who hurt our family. This is never easy but it is absolutely necessary if you want your kids to know how to react to the very same things they too are going to face in life! They need the tools to know how to make the right decisions. Isaiah said of the coming Messiah's upbringing,
Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. (Isa 7:15)
Mom and Dad, let me encourage you to day to remember that the most important thing you possess in life are your kids. They are your first and most important ministry, bar none! Give them what Isaiah spoke of here so they can make good decisions by refusing the evil and choosing the good responses and choices in their lives.
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