NORTHSHORE CHURCH OF CHRIST

It seems like life is getting more and more hectic. This world is rushing madly about, busy with things and stuff. 

On the one hand, it's good to be busy. The devil plays around with our leisure time. But on the other hand, the devil also enjoys watching us waste our time and distracting us from things that matter the most.

Praise the super-successful business mogul. Clap for the sports hero. Sigh for the girl singing on the X-Factor.

Shuttle the kids off to school to learn how to write, read, build, and discover. Rush them to band practice, football practice, their first job in the hamburger joint. It's not enough that they get by in life; we want them to thrive, excel, become truly great, leave their mark. So we push.

Why do we push them? Why do we push ourselves? Why do we rush about attempting to achieve great things?

Solomon did exactly this. He holds the world record in the "super-successful" category because he had virtually unlimited resources and a drive to discover, build, and thrive. Solomon diligently searched for thrills, meaning, and happiness—but when he paused to reflect, he realized he had just been grasping at the wind. Frantically, he tried everything he could think of, but nothing truly satisfied. "Vanity," he penned in his journal. "Emptiness. Striving after the wind." 

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind. (Ecclesiastes 1.14)

And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind. (1.17)

I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity. I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?” (2.1-2)

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done
And on the labor in which I had toiled;
And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.
There was no profit under the sun. (2.11)

Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind. (2.17)

Sad man! Because he was wise, he reflected and meditated on his life journey. Many of us don't pause in the hustle and bustle of our days and weeks—we just spin our wheels and never look back. But Solomon looked back, searching for the reason why he had spent his energies and time the way he had. When all was said and done, after he had philosophized for twelve tough chapters, Solomon found his conclusion. Perhaps some would have committed suicide by the time they had meditated on the realities of life the way Solomon did—but Solomon found an anchor, a reason for living:

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil. (12.13-14)

The answer to life is not in discovering your unique passion, becoming top dog in your company, or hoarding boatloads of cash. No, the secret to life's meaning lies in something quite outside this world! Man's duty is to fear God and keep His commandments. If this is our aim, everything we do in life suddenly becomes pregnant with meaning, from the words we use with our families to the business decisions we make at the office. Suddenly every word, thought, and action holds eternal significance because we realize a judgment day is coming in which God will reveal every secret thing! We ought to live in light of eternity, in light of judgment, in light of God. Since He exists and He watches and He commands, we should listen and obey and conform to His way. Imagine that—the creature obeying his Creator. What a concept.

Why rush about? Why achieve things? Why push ourselves? If it's not for God, there is no good reason to do any of it. It is vanity, a grasping after the wind, and it will all disappear in the twinkling of an eye. All this earth stuff will grow old, rust, rot, and perish. So will our bodies. But WITH God there is no such thing as vanity or emptiness! All has meaning. Praise Him!

Many homes operate from a basis of fear and performance, focusing on right knowledge and right behavior. If that's all we want from our kids (right knowledge and right behavior), perhaps a fear-based or performance-based system is what the doctor ordered.

Often I have discovered the most important thing to me when my kids are with me in public is that they behave correctly—that's my bottom line—because if they don't they might display what a horrible job I'm doing as a parent. If no one acts up in a major way, I chalk it up to success.

But a child can easily perform the right way while his heart remains bound by darkness.

When we think about it, don't we really want kids who desire to obey, who love us, and who demonstrates an inner strength of character which will govern them even as they leave the constant influence of our home's rules? There's the rub, as Shakespeare might say.

How does God parent? How does God deal with us, His sons and daughters? Does He not lead us with copious amounts of grace?

John 1.14 says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and His glory was "full of grace and truth." Three verses later John compared Moses with Jesus: "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Jesus did not only embody truth but also grace. When we speak to one another, Paul instructs us to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4.14).

Does that sound like your home? Are you parenting from an attitude of grace and love? Introspectively, I look back and realize I often have not been. Many times I have spoken harshly with my children because they were not following my laws to the standard I'd like. The clothes they hang up in the closets are wonky. They don't fold my socks and...ahem...other things correctly before stuffing them in my drawer. They don't scrape the dishes well enough before putting them in the dishwasher, so we sometimes have to re-wash. They daydream when they're supposed to be doing their school work, and it takes SO MUCH LONGER than it should! They don't answer me back respectfully enough.

I'm not sure I speak the truth in love often enough. I'm not sure my speech is always "what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers" (Eph. 4.29).

As I think of my failings as a parent, I think about how God deals with me IN my failings. Does He speak harshly to me? Does He make my life miserable? Does He constantly remind me I'm a failure, or does He constantly encourage me to do better, assuring me that He still loves me, accepts me, and will not forsake me? The latter is the truth. If God deals with me with such grace, should I not then fill my own home with grace?

¹² Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, ¹³ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger,
but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
(Ephesians 6.4)

God chose Abraham for a specific purpose: “For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him” (Genesis 18.19)

When David returned from successfully bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, 2 Samuel 6.19-20 says, “Then all the people departed, each to his house. And David returned to bless his household.”

Solomon writes of the relationship between fathers and children in many of his Proverbs:

Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,

and forsake not your mother’s teaching,

for they are a graceful garland for your head

and pendants for your neck. (Proverbs 1.8-9)

And now, O sons, listen to me:

blessed are those who keep my ways. (Proverbs 8.32)

Whoever spares the rod hates his son,

but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. (Proverbs 13.24)

Discipline your son, for there is hope;

do not set your heart on putting him to death.  (Proverbs 19.18)

Discipline your son, and he will give you rest;

he will give delight to your heart. (Proverbs 29.17)

Does the burden of bringing up children in the Lord fall only to fathers? No, mothers also do this excellent work. Moses spoke to the people of Israel, men and women, when he said, “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children…” (Deuteronomy 4.9). “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6.6-7). Timothy’s mother and grandmother worked hard to teach him the Scriptures through his boyhood years (2 Timothy 1.5; 3.15).

But Fathers are primarily tasked with teaching their children about God and His paths of righteousness.

We should be thinking generations down the line. What will my great-grandchildren be taught? Will my influence continue to the next generation…and even beyond? What a sweet thought, that grandchildren I don’t even know may one day bless the Lord’s name and fight in His kingdom.

Fathers, let us command our children to keep the ways of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice. Many fathers today act as curses to their families. Let us return to our homes to bless our families by leading them in paths of light and guiding with godly wisdom and instruction.

To the work!