Daily Devotionals by Ardith Keef

       Do not put a television in your child's room.
     Do not give your child a  set of earphones and a sound system.
     Do not let your child rent movies without your supervision.
     We have gotten unbelievably lax today, when it comes to the supervision of the leisure time our children have.
     I think children need to play, but our children today have lost the beautiful work ethic of milking the cows, feeding the pigs, and then going to school.
     God's Word makes the use of time a privilege and not a right for the Soldier of the Cross. You love your children? Or do you just have an irresistibly strong attachment to them?
      Things we see, and words accompanied by music bypass the conscience and go into a place that is deep. What's more, today, our children seem to think that work is something to finish so they can watch TV, listen to music and "hang out".
     I have worked with children for thirty-seven years. I sometimes get them when they are 10, but more often I get them when they are 12. They stay with me until they are eighteen, and then even though they leave, I hear from them in every joy and heartache.
     There have been over seventy of them, and I know them all well. Oh, you who have the sacred charge of raising children, do not consider your own relaxaion. Consider right and wrong.
     Never give in because you are tired and it is easier. Always memorize your own verse before you bring up memorization to your teen.
     Linger in prayer so that you will be able to see the perils that lurk, and be consistent. It will prevent you from deep, deep anger and it will guard your tongue.
     Our children must be raised on our knees. My grandchildren live in my heart, and as soft as I feel toward them, I stand before the Lord and beg to be trained as a grandmother. I am not a parent to them, I am a grandparent and only the Lord can use that to add to their capacity to serve Him.
     That is the key isn't it? The difference between being strict and harsh and ministering life to them is not to be found in preaching at them. I must make sure I am living in a way that is sweet before the Lord, and a way I want them to follow. If I want them to find something I am not willing to seek, they will just be more turned off.
     I want my grandchildren to be converted unto Christ. They are all gorgeous, and they are all charming, and of course, they are all brilliant and beautiful.
     But none of those things matter in heaven, and I must want for them the things that have the most value in heaven.
      Parents, don't quit, don't indulge in put-down language, and don't decide you know how your child will turn out.
     Do live before the child. He watches you far, far more carefully than you will ever know. He knows the pattern of your breathing and how you think.
     Walk before the Lord. Look each child in the eyes each day and tell him what Jesus means to you!
View past Devotional.