We just dropped out third son off at the airport & my heart relates to Davids lament in Psalm 42 when he writes, ”My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be.”
My favorite parenting verse is Proverbs 22:6 that tells us to train up our children in the way they should go. And yet this morning, as I look back on how things “used to be” when we were training them UP to the day when they GO, it feels like but a breath of time.
Parenting is directional…we train them UP so that they might GO! The last thing Jesus commands us to do before He ascends to heaven is to “GO & make disciples of the nations…” Before that moment, however, there is much training UP that has to happen so we are equipped to go!
Right after Jesus tells his disciples that the time is drawing near when He must suffer & die on a cross, He tells them that they must too carry their own!
He says, “If you want to hang onto your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.”
I’ll be honest. There’s a part of me that wants to “hang” onto my sons.🥲 All week I battled secret tears, knowing the wisdom of not putting the weight of my emotion on my son.
And here’s why: This “GOing” is all part of God’s plan! A big chunk of my heart wishes that my three older sons weren’t on the west coast, but my time of training them UP is done. Now it’s their time to GO where God sees fit!
Even if you’re not a parent, pay attention. God is our Father Who sent His Son to make Way for our salvation! He longs like a Daddy for us to keep our gaze fixed UPward as we GO forward in this life! His Way is always the best way, but it requires death of self SO THAT resurrection life might follow!
Father, carrying our cross & turning from our selfish ways is hard, hard, hard…until we remember Who we follow! Thank You for the reminder this morning that giving up our preferences for Your sake & the sake of the Good News will always lead to life eternal! Bless us & our children with vision to walk in wisdom, grace, Truth & love! May we hold this life & even our family members loosely, knowing that someday we will spend life eternal together with You!
LEVITICUS 19:1-20:21
MARK 8:11-38
PSALM 42:1-11
PROVERBS 10:17
Comments