Investing In Relationship With The Lord

Frequently, we encourage our children to "love the Lord with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). We are teaching them how to use their bodies, how to train their minds, and how to direct their hearts and souls toward Him. We discipline even during worship as they are being trained to reverence the Lord and not be a distraction to those around them.

Now that the groundwork has been laid, it was important to challenge them to take advantage of the opportunities of worship and not squander them. . . Here's the teaching I gave:

Hebrews 11:1 says, " Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." NLT
We run the race, one step at a time, to reach the finish line and get the prize. We have to deal with the sin in our lives, so that it doesn't trip us. But when we do fall down, we need to get back and keep running. But we keep running the race, step by step.

When we're saving money for something, we set a goal. Then when we get extra money, we put it away, little by little. Eventually, we will have enough money to buy what we want. But we have to keep saving the money every chance we get.

The same is true of worship. Do you want to hear God? Do you want to feel His presence just like you feel Mom's and Dad's hugs?

We give lots of opportunities to worship God--during worship times as a family, at church, at special meetings, even by yourself in prayer or Bible reading. You must "Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength."

We can teach you how to use your bodies, to pray, to sing. We can encourage you to think about God and do the right things, and not being a distraction to other people. But only you can really love God with your mind and heart, and choose to follow with your bodies. Every time, you have an opportunity, it's like running the race, step by step--or putting money away in a "Jesus Bank," little by little. Eventually, you will hear His voice and feel His presence. But what if you threw your money in the trash? You must choose. Will you worship and keep adding "money" to the "Jesus Bank"? Or will you waste the time you have been given and throw the "money" in the trash?