Deuteronomy 6:7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons..."
This moring I was skimming over Dr. James Dobson’s book Bringing Up Boys that I read many years ago when my boys were little children. When I read a book I like to star, underline and make comments in the margins of the things I learn and want to take away. As I turned the pages this morning I read the areas that I had starred or underlined and was again challenged by Dr. Dobson’s comment. I hope that today you also are challenged and inspired to action by this comment.
“I believe the greatest sense of fulfillment as you prepare to close the final chapter will be in knowing that you lived by a consistent standard of holiness before God and that you invested yourself unselfishly in the lives of your family members and friends. Most important, knowing that you led your children to the Lord and will be with them in eternity will outrank every other achievement. All else will fade into insignificance. If that is a true representation of how you feel when your days are growing short, why not determine to live according to that value system now, while you still have the opportunity to influence the impressionable kids who look up to you? This may be the most important question you as a mother or father will ever be asked to answer!”
I shared breakfast with four men and fathers of 13 year old sons today to discuss how we can take the next year to work together to teach our sons what it means to be a man. I do not know all of the fathers or their sons and our kids do not all know each other, go to the same school or church. However, I am ever grateful to have acquaintences and friends that challenge me to not be complacent, but to take action in seizing these swiftly passing years to make eternal investments in our boys. If you do not have friends like these then BE one. If you have friends like these, you are indeed blessed.
