Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Daddy Time Pt. 4-Wisdom for children

Yes, it is Daddy time! That special event where I get to spend one-on-one tine with my children. Jerod our second born is ten going on twenty four. When I think of Jerod, I think unique. Sometime the little boy has my wife and I in amazement. On our daddy times in the past we have gone to the book store with our drawing pads, found good pictures in a book and drew for thirty minutes. On this specific daddy time he wanted to learn some new basketball moves so we went to the park.

I am perplexed at how this DNA thing works. My wife and I looked at each other and said, "how did we produce a child that is like neither one of us?" This guy takes obedience, diligence, and consistency to another level. He reminds me of rules I made that I forgot about. His favorite words are "Daddy said this, Mommy said that, God said this". I will have to blog about his personality later. Needless to say I have learned alot from watching him. He is living proof that parents are here to shape and mold but God has put something in our children that we did not originate.

Jerod is so funny, I have tried to stress the importance of spending quiet time with God in the morning and getting up in prayer and reading the bible. Well I am embarrassed to say this boy puts me to shame. He often wakes up before me and is typically 10-15 chapters ahead of the rest of us in our reading. The boy comes and borrows my parallel Bible, study Bible, and Strong exhaustive concordance. Like I said earlier it is amazing to watch God working so purely in a young child and at such a young age. Daddy time not only is a time for me to teach my children. But I have to say I am taking notes too. Jesus said unless we become as a child we will not enter the kingdom.

In Part 3 of this "Daddy Time" series I asked the question, "why do we read out of the book of proverbs on daddy time?" Here are seven reasons:
  1. Proverbs can be read in a short amount of time. Since the Proverbs are like a collection of one-liners we may only end up reading one or two verses and discussing it. It is long enough to make the point, but short enough to not lose their attention.

  2. I want my children to have more than just head knowledge, but know how to apply that knowledge in wisdom. Head knowledge says, lying is a sin. Wisdom says, not only is lying a sin but tells you the type of people that lie, why they lie, what circumstances tempt them to lie.

  3. Proverbs are abstract, this is perfect for children. The book uses lots of parables, similes and metaphors. It gets their minds and imaginations working in overdrive to seek understanding. The book is designed to cause you to seek. That is one of the keys to being wise is knowing how to seek, listen, and get understanding. For example: Prov 3:6,7"Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the LORD and depart from evil, it shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones." Oh man! We could talk about this one for hours...What does it mean to be wise in your own eyes? Are you suppose to be scared of God? What does it mean to depart? What is the purpose of a navel? What is marrow to your bones? You see two verses of scripture can teach about five to ten different life principles to my child in 15 minutes or less. Now that is customer satisfaction.

  4. Proverbs cover a broad range of subjects. If I were to come up with my own things to talk about they would always be funneled through my own interest. Reading the proverbs kind of gives a dad some structure and insures you are giving your child a more exhaustive view of the world through the lens of scripture.

  5. Proverbs has a built in "How to" manual for teaching my children how to be wealthy, how to be diligent, how to manage business, how to handle money, how to choose the correct path, how to avoid sexual immorality, how to control anger, how to control their tongue, how to be a fool, how to be wise..you get the picture. The redundancy of some of the principles helps drill home the point.

  6. Proverbs is the single most important book in the bible or any book ever written on child discipline and training. If it wasn't for this book Lisa and I would be lost in a sea of child psychology and expert opinions that would be leading our family down a chaotic and stressful home life. The book acts as a third party that reinforces your principles in your home.

  7. Most of Proverbs were written by one of the wisest men on earth (Prov. 1:1). Solomon had wisdom that was put in his heart directly from God. The wisdom he was given exceeded all of the kings of the earth. (I Kings 4:29-30, I kings 10:23-24). There was one with wisdom greater than Solomon, Matt. 12:42, and that is Jesus Christ himself. In James 1:5, God said he would freely give wisdom to everyone that ask. So to give my children exposure to this caliber of Godly wisdom is an opportunity I cannot pass up.

I love Daddy time! God desires all Fathers to turn their hearts to their children. Malachi 4:6 "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers..." I am learning that in order to have my children's heart they must have mine.

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