This week, many of our students & leaders are reading 1 Sam 1-3 (as part of the Crux100 plan). This O.T. passage is on the top 100 list for a few reasons, like:
*Israel demanded to have a human king instead of a heavenly one & God gives them what they want… even to their detriment.
*God’s plan to raise up a king through whom the true King(and priest), Jesus, would come & is put into place.
One of the smaller stories within the bigger story of God in the book of 1 Samuel revolves around a main character of that name. He was just a regular kid who’d been set apart for God to use from a very young age. He had been dedicated to God, raised by Eli, the Levite priest & then trained as a priest of God.
Although he was a priest, Eli was also human…& he sinned like one. Ch. 2-3 shows much of Eli’s failure as a father to his 2 sons & his failure as a priest of God.
What did he do so wrong?
That’s just the thing, Eli’s greatest failure is in what he
didn’t do, as a result of what he worshiped…instead of God.
Here’s a few of the things that Eli’s sons were known for:
*“Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the Lord…” 2:12
*“…the sin of these young men was very serious in the Lord’s sight, for they treated the Lord’s offerings with contempt.” 2:17
Eli did throw out some efforts to redirect his kids (v23-24), but apparently, he had a heart problem which effected the way he parented… it seems his own kids had become idols.
Listen in on this rebuke that God gave to Eli through a specially sent prophet:
*”So why do you scorn my sacrifices & offerings? Why do you give your sons more honor than you give me—for you & they have become fat from the best offerings of my people Israel!” 2:29 → Eli was accused of putting his kids before God, by God Himself!”
Later on in chapter 3, the Lord speaks of Eli to Samuel saying, “I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God & he hasn’t disciplined them.”
All humanity is invited to find forgiveness of sin & freedom from eternal death by surrendering our lives over to King Jesus, calling Him, “Lord”. (Romans 10:9-10)
Those who follow Christ are called to seek Him first over EVERYTHING. (Matthew 6:33)
Parents, Eli sinned by giving more honor to his kids than he did to God himself. Our job as the leaders in our home is to have God first in our affections & lives personally THEN teach our kids to revere God & his Son Jesus as well. This means we must have Christ-centered homes not kid centered homes. Kid centered homes become idol factories where God is placed 2nd after greater loves that will end in death.
Jesus said, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, & all your mind.’This is the first & greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40
Each day, I’m asking the Lord to help me search out the idols in my life & to crush them. I beg the Lord to help me to see Him as my greatest treasure so that I don’t treat my daughter as an idol. That would be devastating for her & our whole family.
Praying for you as you lead your family,
More Parenting Instruction from Scripture:
Deuteronomy 4:9-10, “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children & to their children after them. Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land & may teach them to their children.”
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home & when you walk along the road, when you lie down & when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands & bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses & on your gates.”
Proverbs 13:24 He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.
Proverbs 19:18 Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.
Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Proverbs 22:15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.
Proverbs 23:13-14 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.
Proverbs 29:15 The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.
Proverbs 29:17 Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul.
Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Colossians 3:21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Tags: Crossline, Crossline Church, CrosslineYouth, Crux100, Crux33, devotional, maturing in Christ, parent, parenting, wisdom, youth, youth group, Youth leader, Youth Ministry
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