Bind them on your hearts...

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 and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you--a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant--then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. (Deuteronomy 6:6-12)

I have a deep desire that my children would desire to dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23:6b). That they would choose this day who they will serve. I pray they develop a love for the Lord God and that they would desire out of their who hearts to know Jesus Christ.

One of the ways we have started to do this is by reading a chapter of the bible at bedtime. It has been two and a half weeks and Maddie has it pretty down pat, with only a few prompts here and there. I suspect in a couple more days of hearing it she will have it down to were she can recite it without help.

Scripture says to talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road. As I am training my children in the way their attitudes need to be. When we see situations as we are out and about we talk about what Jesus would have us do. As we walk along the trails in the local state park, we point out God's creation. Instead of trying to figure out were something came from, we take the truth of what we believe, that God created it. We then try to hypothesis how God created it.

Another way we write upon our children's hearts God's provision and love is to sit down with them and pray with them about a need we have or a need someone else may have. We do it in their mind frame of understanding. We bring our needs before the Lord, then our kids get to watch the Lord answer our prayers. But, also learning to trust and have peace about an answer that God may have told us no about or has simply said wait. They learn to have peace and to trust God by watching Mark and I responses to situations we have prayed about. Assuring our kids even when we can't see God working, he is always working for our good. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

One thing to keep in mind, you can't force your child's heart. Changing and molding hearts is God's job. I, as the parent, can give them tools such as scripture memorization and praying for them is huge. But, I must remember God is the master artist of their hearts and lives. I must trust God with my kid's hearts, even if it doesn't make sense and I want to pull all of my hair our of my head! Isaiah 55:11 "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth: It shall not return to me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

If I believe that God is truly in control, then I must also choose to cling to the truth that he is in control of my kid's hearts as well. After all, they are only loaned to me for a little while, it is God who formed and knit them in my womb, he is intimate in all their ways. I will trust in the Lord and watching the amazing things he does in my kids lives.

What are some ways you have taken God's truth and helped your children to remember them? I would love to hear the ways the Lord has lead you, to lead your children!