Friday, February 5, 2010

Let's TEAM up...

Recently, I was reading Exodus 23 and this verse jumped out at me.

Exodus 23:4
"If you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey that has strayed away, take it back to its owner."*

Can you imagine that God expected the Israelites to "rescue" and return animals that were straying away even if the owner is the person's enemy? I then asked the Holy Spirit what I was to learn from this...this is what He impressed upon my heart.
We all have a responsibility to ensure that our children are well trained. I'm sure we can all recite Proverbs 22:6 - "Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it."*

Do we also know these follow-up verses - Proverbs 22:15; 23: 13-15; 29: 15, 17?

Proverbs 29:15, 17 say:
- "To discipline a child produces wisdom, but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined child."*
- "Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind and will make your heart glad."*

Prior to these set of verses, King Solomon talked about how a "badly-behaved" child is a disgrace to his mother - see Proverbs 10: 1 & 15: 20 - this just reminds us that "the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world".

Please don't misunderstand me, I have great respect for fathers who take care of children - Beryl & I sincerely love and appreciate our husbands who help us with our children whether we're home or away - and please say "thank you" to your own husbands too. However, more often than not, mothers are "blamed" when a child doesn't seem to be well trained. Personally, I believe that no child is bad - I believe that it’s the parents that are "faulty" - putting it as mildly as I can.

The whole point of this piece is: ladies, we can do this together....together we can achieve much more. Let's learn to look out for each other - and each other's children too. If/when you see a child that seems to be "going astray", reach out and redirect that child. Together we can raise children who will remain on the path of righteousness and influence their generation for God...children who will remain planted in the house of the Lord bearing fruit for a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng time too. (Psalm 1: 1 -3; 92: 12 -14)


Reference:
*Verses as rendered in the New Living Translation

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