Day 38

"God paints a new picture for us everyday, and few take the time to notice," a friend of mine once said, concerning the sky—my favorite part of God's creation. I take it in today. The soft line of orange rising behind the trees and over the mountain tops. The crystal blue, the textured clouds, the radiant glow of the sun. A glorious backdrop for the still picture of a red barn and rolling hills dusted with the first signs of snowfall this winter. 

This is our God. Filling our ordinary, bleak, cold days with His majestic glory! Only, few take the time to really see Him.

The journal continues…

If I did not care that my children grow up to honor and love God and to walk with Him, I would not need this dare. I simply would not let anything get me down in the day, do whatever quick fix was necessary to restore peace and provide fun fun fun for the kids. Coolest mom ever! That's what my kids would think in the beginning, but then they would grow up resenting me for their inability to mature into adulthood and live life richly. Or worse, they would be ignorant to the countless lives they touch in a negative way.

I do not negate the law. The law is not against the gospel, Paul says [Galatians 3:21]. The law was given to reveal sin and lead us to Christ. And so, I care. I discipline. I don't seek peace; I seek truth. I count the days, knowing they are fleeting and will soon vanish like the wind. I see every infraction translated into future fathers, husbands, wives, mothers. I set schedules and boundaries and rules. And this is good! Paul says the law is our 'schoolmaster.' But the problem with a schoolmaster is they do not stay around past maturity [Galatians 3:24-25]. 

The law cannot give life. It cannot justify the guilty sinner. It cannot give a person oneness with God. We need the law to 'bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith' [3:24]. The law is like a mirror that helps us see our 'dirty faces'—but you do not wash your face with the mirror! It is grace that provides the cleansing. 

My Dare:

As I teach my children righteousness and show them their 'dirty faces' in the mirror, to also shower them with grace—gospel love that I possess as an heir of God—forgiveness, selflessness, patience, kindness, tenderness, sympathy, a willingness to enter into childish troubles, a readiness to take part in childish joys.

Many would say the secret to obedient children is FEAR, but I would agree with J.C. Ryle that 'LOVE is the grand secret of successful training.' 'Few are to be found, even among grown-up people, who are not more easy to draw than to drive.'*

I want to draw my kids to Jesus—the One who can cleanse them and make them whole! 

FREE ENERGY.
That's right! Tomorrow, you can save your money on that Clif bar, Einstein power bagel, or Starbucks coffee. Because as we continue on to chapter 4 of Galatians, we learn that we are free from the law that drives us by duty, and free to live in the Spirit who energizes us by love.






* J.C. Ryle, The Duties of Parents