"Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others." 2 Timothy 2:1-2 (NLT)
The picture is a little fuzzy, but do you remember these toys? It is called a view master and as I was starting my search for a picture of it I had absolutely NO CLUE what they were called. I remeber playing with them as a child and I actually ran across one when I was Christmas shopping this year. If you never had the joy of playing with a view master it was like looking through a kelidascope but with pictures. When you pushed the little orange lever down a new photo would pop up. The fild wheel would go round and round as you went through all the pictures. There were many picture wheels you could interchange. VERY facinating for a child!:)
So, why in the world am I talking about a view master? Well, as I went through this weeks lesson I thought about Paul and Him as a teacher, Paul was like the View Master, giving Timothy little snippets or pictures of the Christian life, how to carry these out and to teach them to others.
We as mothers are also like that View Master so that our children see small pictures of Christ through us at ALL times. On day one Jean reminds us that not only should our children see Christ in us but our husbands as well. If Jesus is a constant in our lives then our children will see that and they can never deny that we did not put God first. When she talked about tradtions on day two I could totally relate from a child's perspective of wanting to keep "My" families traditions sacred. When I think about the traditions we are making as a young fmaily it makes me excited that we have those fun memories to cherish, but ultimately those things will perish. It is the traditions of our Christian walk that will be of the upmost importance for our children to carry on!
On day five Jean talks about sowing a crop and that the farmer ought to be the first to get his share of the crop. She discusses how mothering is hard work and it is a spiritual investment. The most important thing that I took from this week was when she explained how we are to sow the seeds of the Spirit in our children but we must leave the harvest to the Lord. The best way to sow the seeds she says is to be a living example. So, back to the view master...If my children were looking through my view master what would they see? Would they see a kind loving mother? Would they see a mother who is short tempered? Would they see a mother doing the dishes and cleaning at every moment or a mother taking the time to read them an extra Bible story that day? Would they see a mom who loves their father or a mother that can be disrespectful? This week has made me readjust my view master so that prayerfully my kids will see the Lord in EVERY picture of my view master, and prayerfully the Lord will be able to reap a healty harvest!!
Love the view master! What a great analogy!
ReplyDeleteThe very last verses in this week's study really stood out to me. In John 12:23-26, we are reminded that the grain of wheat must die in order to produce fruit just like we as wives, mothers and daughters of Christ must die to self in order for Jesus to produce fruit in our lives.
Some days, I think I can be really selfish when I'm scurrying around trying to finish a project or clean the house instead of focusing on my children or paying attention to my hsuband. I can also be selfish with my time with God, if I rush through my quiet time just to check it off the list.
I am prayerful that as I die to self, the life that will break forth within me will draw others to Christ and will produce fruit for the glory of God!