Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Ancient Parenting Questions

Scripture Passage that Caught My Attention Today: Luke 1:80 The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.

Observation: I’ve usually interpreted “strong in spirit” as a spiritual thing in relation to John, and I would still maintain that is true. But it appears in later accounts of his life that he was strong-willed too.

Application: All three of our children are pretty strong-willed, though each in their own way. I think they are strong in spirit too and I pray that my reading on that is correct.

For John, being ‘strong in spirit’ led to a rather out-of-the-ordinary life. I can’t help but wonder what it was like to be his parents and what life was like for them around home while ‘the child grew.’ Was he constantly challenging them or was he completely obedient? Did they worry about him or were they completely content with his life choices?

Zechariah and Elizabeth were people of faith, so I doubt that they questioned his calling. But I wonder if they ever questioned the way he went about his calling. And did they have verbal tussles about such things at home?

I’ll never know the answers to those questions in this life and, thankfully, they are not so pressing as to keep me up at night. But I do know what it’s like to be a parent. Being a parent, at times, does involve being up at night for any number of reasons, be it late-night catching up on the happenings of the day, a middle-of-the-night feeding, or a toss and turn or two out of worry or concern, to name a few. Since Zechariah and Elizabeth knew what it was like to have a child who is ‘strong in spirit,’ I guess I’d like to think that they and I might have something in common.

Prayer: Lord, parenting offers the full gamut of experience. Let us find grace in it all. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: Ezekiel 45-46 and Luke 1)

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