We live in a time when most people have shortage of time, and there is much demand on everyone. Parents are trying to pay bills and provide for their families, and children are taken to various activities to ensure that they are well-rounded individuals by being exposed to sports, music, art, etc.
In addition to the above demands, the culture dictates the characteristics of a successful person, and many people are striving to be all that the culture expects of them to be and fulfill the American Dream. Furthermore, the social media can be thanked for giving a platform for people to market their success and show off their house, their cars, and their exotic vacations!
What does God say about how we are to spend our time!?
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9
The above scriptures show God’s priorities in how to live our lives. First, we are called to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and strength. If we don’t put Him first, everything else will be out of order. When we put God first, the Holy Spirit begins to expose things that are near and dear to our hearts but are not God’s priorities. We cannot love God with all our hearts unless we let go of those things that we secretly value and hold on to as significant in our lives.
Second, from the account of Genesis, we learn that God instituted marriage, and we are called to be one with our spouse. That means we live a married life that is peaceful and united as a couple. We care about our spouse’s needs, and we ensure that we are in continual communication with him/her giving them what they need. This is our first human ministry.
Third, the above verse shows us that our children are next in the line of our priorities. They need our time and attention. One of the things that has hurt our society more than anything else is the lack of time and attention to our children. The above scripture is not listing tasks, but it is describing a lifestyle where our young children are included in our daily lives.
The above scripture was written in a time where the jobs would have been at home or closer to home. Many had their own farms or business close to home, and People did not have hours of commute to work. Therefore, the children were either around their parents regularly or had ease of access to them. Fathers trained their sons in the skills they had, and mothers taught their daughters how to take care of home. In the process of preparing children for adulthood, the children had the opportunity to watch their parents live their lives with a love for God and with integrity before people. For example, the parents had the opportunity to tell their children why it’s important to help the family next door or why they did not charge the last person as much because the person had fallen on hard times.
Nowadays, much of that type of interaction has been lost, and it has been replaced with commute time and 8-10 hours of work away from home. When the parents get home, they want to ensure that their children don’t fall behind in skill set, so they take them to various extracurricular activities. All the while they miss out on precious time spent with their children. When I take my dog for a walk in the neighborhood park, I see some parents who are on their laptop or on their cell phone supposedly watching their children practice their sport. I wonder if they are actually paying attention to their children or something else has taken their mind miles away from there!?
The truth is that most of us have focused on accomplishing tasks rather than valuing relationships. We raise the children by providing for them, but we are not spending as much time with them. Indirectly, we are saying that skills and activities are more important than being present.
Some of us are not in child-rearing phase, but we have people around us who have younger children at home. It’s important for us to encourage the younger parents to choose the right priorities that helps their families flourish. I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.
