Theme of the Week: Raising Godly Kids
Bible Verse: Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. James 5:17a ESV
Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 19:1-21
Let’s start today by setting a few connected baseline facts:
- You are human (and therefore)
- You are not perfect and never will be
Accepting those two truths allows us to accept a third:
- God’s grace is bigger than our imperfections.
As much as we are called to a life of holiness, God knows we will make many mistakes along the way. It is our pursuit of Him that will define what our kids see in us.
This brings us to the story of Elijah. I love this story. A normal guy, called by God, who did incredible things. But he wasn’t perfect. And that may be about as much of an understatement as saying that I am not perfect.
After he saw God defeat the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, he gives in to fear and retreats to a mountain cave (maybe it was his “man cave”). Convinced he’s alone and that God is far from him, he’s unsure of the point of it all. He is a man in deep despair. It is here that God speaks to him, shows him grace, and tells him to get up because there is more work to be done.
And what does Elijah do? He gets up and gets to work.
He doesn’t sit and wallow. He accepted God’s grace and embraced God’s calling in his life and went to work.
As dads, we will mess up. A misspoken word. A moment of anger. A withdrawing to our man caves when we have nothing more to give.
But it is what we do next that will make a difference. Will we stay in the cave, or will we accept God’s grace for us and get up and do the work that needs to be done?
Maybe that work means we need to apologize to our child. Or maybe we need to find more energy to give to the kid who has been waiting all day for us to come home.
Dads, we need to live a grace-filled life, one with confession, forgiveness, and effort – for our kids AND for ourselves.
Why? Because that’s the life that God has for us.
Prayer: Jesus, Thank You that Your grace is bigger than my imperfections. Walk with me and show me how to live a life of grace. Amen.
Reflection: Read 1 Kings 19:1-21 and see how Elijah’s man cave experience can echo in our man caves of today.
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