Dull knives never do what they were made to do. A knife is actually defined as “an instrument made for cutting”. So if a knife is dull, it is not doing what it was created to do.
Take time to read all of Deuteronomy 6. It will be of great encouragement to you. But in Deuteronomy 6:6-9 says, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on 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 doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
As parents, we are commanded to teach our children, and here, God uses the word “impress”. That word “impress” is referring to a whet stone. A whet stone is a stone that is used to sharpen a knife. You, as a parent, are to be spiritually sharpening your children.
Parents are to give their children a spiritual edge, that cuts through the deceptions of the world’s systems and helps them know and live by the principles of the Word of God.
We do a lot of things to set our children up for success: we give them piano lessons, let them play every sport in hopes for a college scholarship, we send them to college, buy them a car, and help them land their first job or buy their first home. We are trying to set them up for physical, emotional, educational, financial, and some relational success.
The reality is that if we don’t make it the primary goal for them to be spiritually successful, all the other things will come crashing down because we never gave them the foundation. We never gave them Who helps them maintain, sustain and steward all the other things.
Without setting your children up for spiritual success, all other successes cannot be sustained.
So let’s train up our children. And what is required for that? You, first, being filled with the Word of God personally, so you can pour it out throughout the day upon your children. You cannot give away what you don't possess. You must know what the Bible says for yourself, before you try to tell anyone else what it says. You need to have a personal relationship with God, through Jesus, and empowered by the Holy Spirit if you want to give Him to
Your children. When you do, you will be so consumed with Jesus and His Word that it just naturally comes out during your day.
You will find yourself making a sandwich and saying, "Did you know that Jesus is the bread of life?" And if it is a PB&J, you'll say, "And He sticks closer than a brother!" You see, what consumes you is what comes out of you. Be consumed with Jesus and His Word, and that's what your children will get.
So let's go to work on our personal relationship with Jesus, so we can overflow to our children. Let’s teach them a Biblical worldview (the Bible tells me so). Let’s give them a spiritual edge that cuts through everything else so they find the Truth.
Because, a dull knife isn’t doing what it was created to do, and a dull child of God isn’t either.
You are so loved,
Jena