It is hard to believe that summer is nearly over and that it is time to start a new school year. Has this summer been a season of growth for you and your family in the Lord? I sincerely hope that you were blessed! Did God lay on your heart any challenges? If he has, you have much to be thankful for.
I love the last verse of the Old Testament, Malachi 4:6.
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. — Malachi 4:6 (KJV)
What a message for us, right before the New Testament starts! Oh fathers, do you pray that God will turn your heart toward your children? You may think that your heart is already turned toward you children. But is that true? When I meditate on this point, I am convicted that my heart is not turned like it should be. How often have I told one of my children, “Not now, I’m busy.” Or, “Later, when I have time.” Perhaps it is, “As soon as I am done with this….”
While we should not serve our children’s every whim and desire, we do need to spend time building fellowship and close relationships with our children. I believe that if we examine our hearts carefully, we will find there is room for improvement. It takes a lot of discipline to be a father, whether you have one child or ten. We can’t do it in our own power. It takes the inner working of God to turn our hearts to our children the way our hearts should be turned!
Malachi 4:6 is an end-time prophetic verse. Read Malachi 4:5-6 together. God is moving in the last days to strengthen families and it starts with the fathers. Look at the benefits of following God in this matter. The heart of your children will be turned back to you. Think of what they will be turning away from! All the evil and corruption of this present world.
Is this not one of the main reasons why we have chosen to homeschool our children? We don’t want to lose their hearts to the world. We want to see them grow up to love and serve the Lord Jesus. We don’t want them to live in a world which God will smite with a curse. Finally, we want to see them in heaven.
Fathers, ask God to show you. Is my heart turned toward my children?
God bless, Mike