Anchoring Your Family - Part 1 of 3
Anchoring Your Family
Part 1 of 3
As I prepare to celebrate this season of giving, I am praying for guidance and direction for specific people in my life and how I am to serve others. I want to be a good steward. I want to be a good steward with all the Lord has provided for my family, yet also want to give that which the Lord would have me give away. I don’t want to keep anything I shouldn’t be keeping. In my attempt to be a good steward, I want to follow the Lord’s will for all He has provided.
I believe there is a gift He would have me share with you, although this is unique in that as I give this gift away, I am able to keep it and learn a deeper meaning in sharing it. This gift is a revelation the Lord gave me over eight years ago. This is the revelation of anchoring your family, whether your children are a future plan, newborn, or grown with children of their own.
I am sharing this gift with you because I believe the Lord wants you to anchor your family. I believe this is a commitment and responsibility the Lord gives us when He entrusts us with children – His children. This is a gift for you, yet also for your children, for their children, and for their children, passing on through the generations. You may be wondering how? Let’s take a look:
This philosophy is not new, as it is well grounded in Scripture and Spiritual Principles. The application of the philosophy may be different from family to family. Just as there are various kinds of anchors for diverse applications (the anchor for a canoe is not the same as the one used for a battleship), there are numerous methods to effectively safeguard your family in the years beyond your abilities.
I wear a silver cross I plan to pass on to my son. I have other heirlooms to give to my daughters. The cross itself holds no powers beyond the structural abilities and properties of the silver. It is inanimate and can do nothing other than stay where I put it. As a symbol of my faith, however, this cross can move mountains. My hope for this symbol is my son and daughters will know it as a reminder of my faith and relationship with Jesus Christ, and through this symbol, it would encourage them when they are challenged, tempted, or in doubt. They must stand on their own in their relationship with Jesus, and wherever I can, I want to prepare them and give them the strength and ability to stand strong.
I believe symbols of this nature are important and encouraged by the Lord. We see this in many places in the Bible, specifically in Joshua 22:25-27, where it is written:
“The LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you– you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the LORD.’ So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the LORD. That is why we said, ‘Let us get ready and build an altar– but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.’ On the contrary, it is to be a witness between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the LORD at His sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings. Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no share in the LORD.’”
The purpose of the altar here was not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, instead it was a symbol to serve as a witness to the following generations. The symbol stood for the faith and relationship the previous generations had with the Lord, “…so no one would be able to say to our descendants, ‘You have no share in the Lord.’” The altar is a symbol, a symbol that is part of an anchor to children and descendents. The cross I wear is only a portion of an anchor for my children, but it will function as a symbol for them and possibly their children and their descendents, so no one may say to them, “You have no share in the Lord.”
A symbol by itself is meaningless; therefore it becomes our responsibility as parents to establish a purpose and significance to firmly anchor our family in the Lord. This is the process where we fully establish the anchor – whether or not there is a symbol involved does not matter, it is the process that accomplishes the anchoring. As we are parents, the Lord gives us this responsibility in Deuteronomy 4:7-9 where it is written:
“What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to Him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”
Here we are reminded of the blessing it is to be able to pray to our Lord, to have Him with us, to know righteousness in the Law, and to have a relationship with God. We are told to be careful and to never forget, keeping our hearts turned toward the Lord. Then we are told to teach these ways to our children and to their children after them.
The Bible further instructs in the methods we are to teach our children, and confirms the validity of symbols as a reminder for them in Deuteronomy 6:5-9 with:
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
These are responsibilities given to the parents or guardians of the children. Our obligation for our families exceeds providing for their physical needs; we must furnish and contribute to their emotional and spiritual needs, equip them mentally, and promote their relationship with God. My personal belief is these are the bare minimums, as there is so much more the Lord wants to give our children through us.
Where are we blocking His efforts?
Where are we getting in the way of His blessings?
Where are we lacking or not stepping up to affirm our children in the Lord?
Whether your children are a plan, newborn, or with children of their own, would you join me in a simple prayer for our children: “Lord Jesus, we come before You with a simple prayer to ask You to give us wisdom and understanding to be good stewards with these precious gifts, our children. Reveal what and how we should serve them, and ultimately serve You in raising our children. Teach us, that we may teach them; lead us, that we may lead them; and bless us, that we may be a blessing to them. We pray this in hte name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”
My next blog will take a closer look at the ripple effect our actions have in the lives of our children and the generations following them. Whether good or bad, what we do influences their lives in ways we hardly understand now. Join me?
Glenn Sasscer
Click here for Part 2 of 3 or here for Part 3 of 3.
www.glennsasscer.com
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