http://www.focuspress.org/files/Articles/July__08_think_pgs_12___13.doc
It is good to get advice from people who have traveled the road that you are going to travel. They can warn you of dangers. As the saying goes ‘hindsight is 20/20'. Here is an article from Phil Sanders who has adult children. He looks back at some of the things he wishes he had done better when they were young. You can find more helpful articles at focuspress. - jp
http://www.focuspress.org/files/Articles/July__08_think_pgs_12___13.doc
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Did you know that there are 295 different ways(thousands more if you count all of the different styles of the various coins) to give someone a dollar? You could give them a dollar bill or a dollar coin, obviously. Everyone knows 100 pennies make a dollar and people often want 4 quarters for some vending machine. Of course there are also half dollar coins and 2 make a dollar, and so do 10 dimes or 20 nickels. But that is only 7 ways to make a dollar. The combinations of different coins account for the rest like: 10 pennies, 1 half dollar, 1 quarter, 1 dime, 1 nickel or 13 nickels, 1 quarter, 1 dime.
Some people treat making it to Heaven like making change for a dollar. They believe that there are dozens or even hundreds of ways to get there, but they are wrong. Jesus said he was "THE WAY" He said "NO ONE" could come to the Father except through Him - John 14:6. He explained that there are only 2 paths with gates, one leading to destruction and one to life - Matthew 7:13-14. He also promised to build one church and He puts those who are saved in it - Matthew 16:18 and Acts 2:47. Fathers must grasp this truth. As a father our most important task is to point our young arrows toward heaven and then let them fly. If we have crafted those arrows straight and aimed them properly they will make it to their destination. Bows and arrows are weapons. They are different from guns, but deadly weapons none the less. I was taught in a hunter’s safety course that you should never point a gun (loaded or unloaded, because every gun should be treated as a loaded one) at anything you did not want to shoot at and hit. If we apply that same reasoning to our children then many of us need to change the direction we are pointing our children. Many fathers aim their children at educational success, a high paying career, sports, recreation, games, politics, music, art, etc. That is not to say that any of those things are necessarily sinful, but they should not be their aim in life. Those things may be a part of their life, but not their destination. If someone asks for a dollar we could give them any of the coin combinations that add up to a dollar, but if they ask for a dollar bill the coins won’t work. God calls us to give him something very specific with our lives, and we can’t just live any combination of events and purposes and please him. We must train our children to put God first, for going to Heaven with Him to be their aim and destination. If we accomplish that it won’t matter if they never get a degree, have to work a minimum wage job their whole life, are too uncoordinated to play any sport, can’t afford to go on vacation or buy the latest video game, don’t engage in politics, can’t do anything musically other than make a joyful noise to the Lord, can’t draw a stick figure, etc. When those things are placed beside eternity they just don’t measure up. There is nothing more depressing than to see someone who has it all, except the one thing that counts. All that potential wasted on worldly pursuits when it could have been invested for eternal rewards. Don’t let that be your child. |