Train Up a Child

"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it." (Proverbs 22:6)
This week talk with your kids about repentance. Repentance involves asking for forgiveness and turning away from the sin (wrong behavior) and moving toward the behavior or attitude that God desires for us. It is literaly a 180 degree turn - an U- turn in our behavior. God provides us with the direction He desires each of us to take in living a life that glorifies Him and will help us have eternal life with Him. It is never too early to teach (often through our own example)kids that we all make mistakes, even as parents, but saying we are sorry to those we wronged and especially to God and then changing our behavior or attitude is so important.Here are a few ideas to help you:

God's Warnings for Us
As you are driving over railroad tracks, discuss the red blinking lights and the barrier bars that come down to prevent people from getting hurt.

Ask:

Why do the red lights blink and the barrier bars come down? (to signal that a train is coming)
Why do they put these here? (to warn us and to prevent us from getting hit by a train)
God gives warnings to stay away from sin (the wrong things we do) in the Bible. It is important to listen to and obey the warnings.

Try to name some warning from the Bible. ( Do not steal, Do not lie, Do not covet. Have no other gods, etc)

Stop! Drop! Obey?

The Bible has many books about the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. These books are full of warnings - warnings that apply to us and our kids. The problem is that they wouldn't always listen or obey. (Sound familiar!)

Make the smoke detector alarm go off when everyone is present in the house. (I'm not sure how to do that, but when I turn my oven to 450, unfortunately mine goes off. Maybe I need to clean my oven!)

When everyone has gathered, tell them that was a warning. The smoke detector warns that there is smoke or a fire in the house.

Ask:

What should you do when the alarm goes off? (get out of the house as quickly as possible)
Why is a warning a good thing? (it gives you a chance to escape danger)
Does God give any warnings? (The Bible is full of God's warnings - the Ten Commandments are a good place to start.)
Why does God give warnings? (to protect and help us to know the best way to live) God does not want anyone to go the wrong way toward sin. That's why the Bible gives warnings, so you can turn from sin and go God's way. There should be a big sign in front of sin that says, "Danger!"