When They Ask Why

I have been blessed to have 2 great nieces that are being raised to love the Lord. In this day and age that is a wonderful thing, indeed.

I have Brooklyn and Kinsley.

I am constantly enthralled by stories about them. And I am awed as I watch their baby features turning into little girl features, even though only get to watch this from a distance.

My sister and I talked today and I could picture Brooklyn in my mind, waking up and, with that sweet little voice, asking for something to eat.

I wish I were there to see her slide on her slide in the living room.

Kinsley, according to her mother is already quoting Bible verses at 21 months.

" Cheeldren, obey yo pa-ents in the Lawd"

"Ou-a God eez One Lawd"

"Peter said unto dem, Hepent, Baphize, Ho-ey Toast"

These babies are amazing!!!

And so are their parents.

I was reading tonight in Deuteronomy Chapter 6 and I thought about these beautiful little girls and the responsibilities we have to our children.

My daughter was telling me the other day about a friend that paid her an extreme compliment. He said he respected her because she actually knew what she believed and why she believed it.

I know it is so tempting when they are so very small and have asked "Why" what seems like a hundred times in a row to simply say "because" and go no further with it.

But in doing that we are essentially robbing our children of the knowledge they need to build their own faith.

In Deuteronomy the 6th Chapter, the Lord admonishes the Israelites to remember.

6:4-12 (NIV) Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 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 lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your homes. When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you-a land with large flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant-then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

We have become a spoiled, complacent generation that expects life to hand us whatever it is we need. We have become thankless.

Gone are the reminders of where it is He brought us from. We, for the most part, are not toiling the land for our food, sweating and struggling to build a roof over our heads, we live like we are deserving of the bounties we have without remembering the One who makes it all possible.

I can sit with my children and say my life was not always like this. I was bound by sin, a slave to the things of this world, and I always want to be mindful of the One that set me free.

When my grandchildren come along one day and ask "why" Grandma cries and worships, why she sings to the Lord, why she has set aside the things of the world, I want to have all the answers...

"Because once like a bird in prison I dwelt, no freedom from my sorrow I felt, but Jesus came and listened to me. Glory to God, He set me free!"

You have taken the time to explain to your children why the sky is blue, where the water goes when you flush, why puppies shouldn't lick you on the mouth, but have you told them.....

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one"