LEFT BEHIND FOR BAD BEHAVIOR?

[Margery]

This is where I am hopeful that homeschooling will give us more family time. We talk about the Bible, why things are bad all the time, in the car, while playing. I just want to be an open book for my kids and I try to use myself as an example. There was a lot of pride in my family growing up and I never want my kids to think they must be perfect and that I do no wrong. I’m the worst sinner in our home and have to constantly show them my repentance.

It gets tricky when the people rejecting God and doing sinful things are my siblings who see often. We’re always praying for them because my son is worried they’ll end up in Hell. It’s very sweet to see how much he wants them to know Jesus.

Deut 6:6-7
6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.
7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Look at these verses, and tell me that isn't happening in your home, because I recognize what you are doing, and that is EXACTLY what this passage is talking about.

YOU ARE DOING THIS!

Quantity time, that God uses to train up the child in the way he should go, so that when he is old he will not depart from it.

That's what I did. In fear and trembling because I'm human and I make mistakes, and I sin and fall short. But God takes that time given to Him by our commitment to be there with those children He entrusted into our care, and He makes it work.

 

[KMendel]

I find it interesting that even as an adult comes to the saving knowledge of Jesus, he enters Christ's "family" as a babe.
He is at first sipping the milk of the gospel and church doctrine. As he moves forward - (ages) in knowledge - he moves forward to
"the meat". Isn't that a picture of little children accepting Jesus as a babe, then growing and learning more as he moves forward in
life?? I truly believe little children can have a saving experience with Jesus, and it will grow as they grow, just like adult believers do.
That is why Jesus said do not withhold the little children from coming to me.....

 

[Cheeky200386]

Deut 6:6-7
6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.
7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Look at these verses, and tell me that isn't happening in your home, because I recognize what you are doing, and that is EXACTLY what this passage is talking about.

YOU ARE DOING THIS!

Quantity time, that God uses to train up the child in the way he should go, so that when he is old he will not depart from it.

That's what I did. In fear and trembling because I'm human and I make mistakes, and I sin and fall short. But God takes that time given to Him by our commitment to be there with those children He entrusted into our care, and He makes it work.

This brought me to tears. I am trusting God to use me in whatever way he can because I am screwing up every single day and have to repent Daily. I'm so grateful that Mike is saved because there is no way I could do this alone. Praise the Lord for this forum, for everyone's prayers, and that I still have more time with my children to tell them about Jesus.

I just want them to love Jesus more than anything in this world. There is nothing compared to him.

 

[Cheeky200386]

I find it interesting that even as an adult comes to the saving knowledge of Jesus, he enters Christ's "family" as a babe.
He is at first sipping the milk of the gospel and church doctrine. As he moves forward - (ages) in knowledge - he moves forward to
"the meat". Isn't that a picture of little children accepting Jesus as a babe, then growing and learning more as he moves forward in
life?? I truly believe little children can have a saving experience with Jesus, and it will grow as they grow, just like adult believers do.
That is why Jesus said do not withhold the little children from coming to me.....

I agree, I think children can understand the simplicity of the Gospel. I agree with Andy that it can vary by child, but I don't think an infant would understand it.

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

It gets tricky when the people rejecting God and doing sinful things are my siblings who see often. We’re always praying for them because my son is worried they’ll end up in Hell. It’s very sweet to see how much he wants them to know Jesus.

This tells me Your son knows and understands the consequences for rejecting Jesus and is demonstrating such understanding AND the proper application of it as a believer, re: the unsaved, especially those, whom he cares for/loves.

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

I agree, I think children can understand the simplicity of the Gospel. I agree with Andy that it can vary by child, but I don't think an infant would understand it.

When Elizabeth was pregnant with John, he understood at least the presence of The Lord and responded, when Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus, came to Elizabeth.

Unborn babies respond to their Parents' voices, especially the Mother's, when they sing and speak. I suspect the Mother reading Scripture and prayer in Jesus' Name might elicit even more response than usual. The newborn baby may not be able to express understanding in such a way that adults would recognize it, but I strongly believe they can express it tn a way the God understands. A Mother's voice soothes and calms her baby, and I wonder if this would be even more pronounced if Mom were praying aloud in Jesus' Name and/or reciting/reading Scripture at the time.

Like babies, elderly with dementia, etc. no longer communicate verbally like they once did. That doesn't mean they no longer believe, nor does it mean they can no longer respond to God/God's Word, even if no longer verbally. It also means that an unbeliever can still respond to God/God's Word and come to saving faith, at least until the moment he or she dies, even if an adult(s) can't observe or recognize it.

During the last few weeks of my Mother's life, when she was unresponsive to virtually "everything," and didn't even know Dad anymore, she would perk up and become extremely attentive to Scripture when I read it to her. Even on her last night, when she finally no longer knew me, she responded to hearing God's Word in the only way she could, by becoming attentive. Several hours earlier, she was attentive during the Chaplain reading Scripture and consecrating of the elements and was able and very willing to lick in and swallow a crumb of the wafer and lick a bit of the wine during Holy Communion, even though she had stopped eating and drinking a few days earlier. When I spoke to the nursing home Chaplain about Holy Communion the day before that, her question was whether Mom knew what was going on, and she was satisfied and even joyful that Mom still responded to the reading of Scripture, and that is the only reason why she consented.