Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

Guru interrupted

Friday, March 7, 2008

Psalm 34:11
Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

This is such a sweet picture for someone who has been a son for 58 years and a dad for 27. Everyone's in harmony: the teacher is teaching and the students are learning, and the sun is setting peacefully in the west. All is calm, all is bright.

Of course I don't remember many nirvanic moments like this. The vital information I had to share with my kids didn't usually seem so vital to them. At least they didn't roll their eyes where I could see them.

And I wasn't any more in awe of my dad than my kids were of me, at least not when I was young. Once I became a dad myself, it was much easier to sit as his feet and ask him to share what he had learned.

God insisted that his people pass on his words to the next generation: "Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up" (Deuteronomy 11:19). Stories of their rescue from Egypt, the miracles of the desert, the commandments given to Moses, even the retribution of God focused old eyes and young on the power and authority of the "Most High."

But it is God's stories, not mine, that have the power. They are powerful particularly because they turn our eyes away from each other and toward God. My kids are created by God like I was; we have that in common. Our Source is the same.

The decisions of my life are all meant to be made in the context of God's authority and abundance. Any wisdom I have worth sharing leads my children into the same humility, the same hunger, the same obedience.

Let my mind rush toward you, Lord, and my words as well.

Devotions Archive

Guru interrupted

Friday, March 7, 2008