Teach Me Your Ways

As parents, one of the greatest concerns we have is the legacy we instill in our children. How will they conduct themselves when they are apart from us – and how will they continue in their lives when we are gone?

What we are really speaking of is influence. In part, even worldly people desire to have influence over their children and against the world. For them the cause has more to do with temporal protection or family identification or reputation rather than eternal deliverance from evil.

“Like father, like son.” “The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.” “He’s a chip off the old block.”

These statements express what we are about in some sense as parents. We have a (I believe God-designed) desire to see ourselves in our children, and how closely our children resemble us – both physically and emotionally - often has a lot to do with how proud we are of our children.

So we have to do a lot of convincing along the way, don’t we? Because when we are gone our ability to convince goes away with the removal of our presence. We are at a disadvantage according to the world. We can no longer convince our children to do what we would do if we were with them. Jesus says something quite different to His ‘children’ (His disciples)…

John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

The advantage Jesus has is intensely Spiritual. He is going away that we might take our eyes off His physical presence and be convinced (convicted) by His Spiritual presence. If only we could instill ourselves in some sense into the hearts of our children to guide them in their day-to-day decisions. Jesus promises exactly that. He instills and installs His presence, essence and guidance immediately into our lives when we open our hearts to receive His saving grace. The advantage: His presence never fades or loses the influence we allow it to have in our lives. Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

- Pastor Bill