Daily Devotionals by Ardith Keef

       Most parents don't really see their children when they are small.
     We have a tendency to see only the things that affirm our good job or threaten it. So, when a child is small, parents often only react to stimulation - how cute the child is, or funny, or annoying.
     But God's Word has given a balance to child rearing that is not heard much today. That is, you are raising a child in order to give him up to service in the army of the King.  
     That changes everything - mostly the parent's priority.
      The child is to be taught the Law of the Lord. He is to be trained, not raised to be a best friend of the parent.
     Often a parent stops good discipline because it appears to be ineffective. The mother will say to me "I spanked him, but it didn't work".
      You won't know whether it worked or not until the child is forty! the Bible lays a standard from which the parent must not tire. If the child disobeys, there is to be a consequence that is painful, and God will take care of the rest.
     Isn't it another area of living by faith? We need a vision for raising our children that goes far beyond happy family life. That is shallow and guaranteed to create people who are easily bruised.
     God backs up the parent who is raising the child on her knees, disciplining him according to the Word, and confessing her own frustration before the Lord (since it is not the child's fault the parent is frustrated.) The parent is frustrated from a lack of sight, and since the resolution is not at the parent's fingertips, fear that things will not change lets in the storm.
     It is time to change.
     We must back up, and put first the things that are first.
     Praying with a child before bed is good, but it is not a family altar. The family (or one parent) should sit together before getting in bed, and sing and pray and read - maybe share testimonies of the day's walk with the Lord.
     We have become a nation of passive parents, and it is resulting in angry children who look to schools and psychologists for solutions. 
      Brace up, look up, and clean up!
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