[Nadab] did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways of his father and committing the same sin his father had caused Israel to commit. (1 Kings 15:26)
If you have children, then you, as a parent, have the responsibility of setting the direction for your family. Your kids take their cues from you, and the future and legacy of your family depends on the direction that you set for them – for better or for worse.
In the case of Nadab, his father modeled a life of evil for him. Though Nadab had free will and could have gone a different direction in life, he followed the model that was given to him (as most do), and he was responsible for leading the nation of Israel into committing sins just as his father had done before him. His father was instrumental in setting Nadab’s direction.
Today we celebrate one year of life for our little Madelyn. She and I went out for breakfast this morning and spent some quality time together in what I plan on making a yearly tradition. I want to set the direction for her life from the start so that she is prepared to live a life with Christ at the center. Though she probably didn’t fully understand what was happening today, my hope is that I’m modeling – even now – what it looks like to be committed to the Lord.
Parenting is a stewardship. We will answer to the Lord for how we parent our children, and we have an amazing opportunity to lead them in a way that’s pleasing to God.
I’m still new at this parenting thing, but if you have suggestions on how to do this well, please leave them in the comments section so others can benefit from them, too.
Lord, I want to be a father who helps to set the direction of his family in a way that is pleasing to You. For our little girl, I pray that You will capture her heart even now. Let her mom and I model a life of submission to You, and give her a desire to walk in our footsteps.
Thanks Seth.
We had six kids in our family and every night, my mother would read from the bible and we would ask her questions about anything we felt led to ask. Then we would all pray separately. We did this every night! To this day I have always felt blessed that our mother led by example. I wish that all young people would have this opportunity at an early age in their lives.
That’s awesome, Ray! I wish all parents understood how important it is to instill their faith into their children. I’m sure it is challenging, at times, but the rewards are well worth the effort. I appreciate you taking the time to comment.