Notes from the Teen Parent devo, 1/18/19 (Montgomery County church)
Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you live to see your children’s children— peace be on Israel.
Psalm 128
Introduction
The fifteen psalms that follow Psalm 119 (Psalms 120-135) are known as the “psalms of ascent”. These are thought to be songs that Israelite families sang as they made their way up to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the annual feasts, ascending the road leading up to the city. In the middle of this collection is a psalm that provides us with wisdom on parenting in the context of the farming culture that many of these families knew well. Farming and cultivating is hard work! However, it is necessary in order to have a harvest and properly take care of what God has given us, our families. Psalm 128 celebrates how God blesses those who fear the Lord and live a life of obedience, and it provides us with insight into how to cultivate faith in our families today.
Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him
We need to set an example for our families in our faith by being obedient to God in his commands. Jesus told his disciples that obeying his words showed their love for him and that this love leads to making our home together, being a family.
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
John 14:23
But what about our hearts as we obey God? Are we “devoted” as in Acts 2 to the apostle’s teaching, fellowship, breaking bread and prayer? We need to walk in obedience to show our children the way of God, and through our devotion show that it’s a blessing to live the Christian life.
You will eat the fruit of your labor
The principle of reaping and sowing is clear in the Bible: we will eat the fruit of what we’ve sown:
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
2 Corinthians 9:6
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:7-8
The principle of reaping and sowing is a key to cultivating faith. We as parents are the key influencer in our teen’s life, and they are great at finding hypocrisy when what we say is different than what we do. If we live a life of obedience to God, we will influence them to follow God’s way. We don’t have to be perfect, but if we don’t strive to live this life, they will be influenced to not live their life for God.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house
Look at your marriage: is it all it can be for God? What are you doing to resolve issues in your marriage and to grow as a couple? Is your marriage one that is fruitful? What is the example you’re giving your teen for when they find a spouse?
After your relationship with God, your marriage is the most important relationship in your life. It’s important to keep your priorities first on God then on your marriage. Make sure before you focus on your children and any issues with them that you get input and discipling for your marriage and make it strong. However, this may mean you start with your relationship with God and walking in obedience to Him. As Psalm 128 says, if you’re walking in obedience, your marriage will be fruitful, but this starts with you and your relationship with God.
Your children will be like olive shoots around your table
Olive trees are hard to cultivate and take years to begin showing a harvest. However when carefully tended, they begin a harvest in 6 or 7 years and peak at 40 to 50 years, and can live to be over 100 years old. It may take years before you see changes in character if your children are not spiritually minded, and you may only begin to see their heart for God after years of raising them. However, once the shoots grow, the harvest is near – the blessing of having faithful children is worth the work required to tend to the olive tree!
May the Lord bless you in Zion; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life
It’s important that we work together as a community: we each are not perfect, but together we can show our children true faith.
Have a group of 5 or more adult mentors for each of your children. Pick out mentors that can display aspects of faith you want instilled in your child, share this with them and the mentor, and find ways to get them together often (reference: The Man Maker Project by Chris Bruno, but the principle applies to making godly women as well 😉 )
Also be sure to support the youth and family events and workers in your congregation – this is a key community of faith for your family. Pray for the prosperity of the whole “city of Jerusalem”, your youth and family ministry, along with all of the families in it with you.
May you see your children’s children – peace be on Israel
Children’s children: Mary and I, through grace, discipling, prayer and following the scriptures the best we could, now enjoy the great joy of being parents with faithful adult children, and have the joy of seeing our grandchildren being raised by godly parents – the next generation raising the generation to follow. It’s a great blessing and we pray and hope for all teen parents to experience it as their children grow into adults and have families of their own.
Peace: there will not be peace if you don’t devote yourself to being an example, getting mentors in their lives and giving your support to the youth and family ministry. Your children may still find great faith in God if you don’t make an intentional effort, but some teens may not become disciples before leaving home, or not have a good transition to college or single life, even if you do devote yourself to the work of cultivating their faith. If we walk in obedience, we start our children off on the way they should go, and when they are older and no longer in our house, they will not completely turn from that way (Proverbs 22:6), You can have peace in calling on God’s promises and have hope that that they can be brought back to what they’ve learned and know in their hearts from when they were younger.
Start children off on the way they should go,
Proverbs 22:6
and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him
The key to cultivating faith is to first fear God and walk in obedience to Him. The blessings of a great marriage and children who mature spiritually into disciples are worth the hard work of cultivation. Be sure to get input and continue to learn more about how to cultivate your children’s faith. May the Lord bless you, and may you see prosperity in Him.
-Tom and Mary