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Teach Them to Leave and Live
By Rev. Moses K. Ndereva,
Pastor – Lifeline Community Fellowship
Mark 10:7
‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,
Deuteronomy 30:20
and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
John 15:9-11
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
Introduction
Prepare your children to leave and live!
One of the greatest human failures is to disciple children. Training children to become like us or better should be the goal of every parent. We say the world is worsening daily but we do not prepare and equip our children with the survival kit. Our children find themselves ill-equipped to navigate a turbulent world. God had a lifelong design when he gave us children as found in Genesis 2:24. He gave them to us to prepare them to leave and live. Let us examine Mark 10:7.
God gave children permission to leave
God gave us children and made it clear that someday they will leave us. However, they are supposed to leave when they are men; not children. Children are supposed to remain under the care of their father and mother learning how to survive and love. The permission to go is nothing the parent can deny. It is God’s design and verdict.
Parenting is a school
Children are meant to be with us so they can learn obedience and love. By the time a child leaves home, he/she is supposed to have learnt;
- Love and discipline. Love because when they leave, they are meant to create new bonds for life leaving the familiar territory.
- To love the Lord
- To hear the voice of God
- To hold fast on to the Lord
They are to leave and live
Children must be taught responsibility, decision making and work. Leaving should be something expected of every child. They grow to leave. When they leave we expect them to live. Living requires decisions and responsibility for every decision with the readiness to face consequences thereof. Most people leave home unprepared for the world. They are unable to bond with others let alone spouses. Family failure in some cases starts with wanting parenting. Love for spouse and God starts at home. Failure to love God always leads to spousal failure. Learning to cleave is a home training that happens naturally through observation and simple instruction. It is for the most part involuntary. It comes as accidental lessons that permanently format the behavioral pattern of growing children. Intended lessons are usually mechanical and often theoretical to the children. They are not backed by enduring practical character. For this reason they are either understood later in life or are dismissed at an early stage. This leaves a child without a compass and beacons for direction and boundaries in life.
The goal of parenting
Taking children to the heaven gateway should be the goal of every parent. Leading children to the way of the Lord should be our first and foremost priority. Successful living calls on children to understand that parental home is a transfer ground. If we are going to have an impact on the children for God, it would have to be while we are still living with them. Having a long and good life requires that we teach children that God is their very life. Without God, there is no life anywhere. Jesus says he is the truth, the life and the way. We cannot usher our children into heaven but we can certainly show them the way to heaven. We can show them the door. Jesus is the door and the way to the Father.
Whatever our ups and downs, whatever our wandering and whichever way we found ourselves lost, we want to make sure that God is our destiny. Just like an airplane aims for the airport or a ship the harbor, so should we aim at navigating our children to God. Where they pass is not as critical as where they end up. Point them to Jesus and they will live if they trust and obey.
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