Straight And Tall

By Helen Smith

The psalmist said that our children are like tender plants within our house and that women are fruitful vines. Psa 128:3. King David also called our sons ‘grown-up plants’ and our daughters ‘corner pillars fashioned as for a palace’. Psa 144:12. How can we ensure that our children grow spiritually straight and tall? This will only happen if we show them the way by standing straight and tall ourselves. It is not natural for any of us to be spiritual. The apostle Paul said that the things of the Spirit are foolishness to us and we cannot understand them. 1 Cor 2:14. It is only by pursuing spiritual things that we become spiritual. We need to watch over our heart with all diligence. Prov 4:23.

The pursuit of alternate agendas or directions can cause us to wander away from our faith. The prophet Jeremiah wrote about those who moved away from God. They walked after emptiness and became empty. Jer 2:5. A worldly culture depletes us spiritually. The apostle John said that ‘all that is in the world: the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father’. 1 John 2:16. A mixture of worldly and Christian cultures is confusing to our children and inhibits their growth. They become literally ‘mixed-up’. They become distracted from the simplicity, sincerity and truth of their faith, and from the work the Lord has given them to do. Prov 4:23. Perhaps we have led our sons and daughters in another direction because of our own view regarding their ‘destiny’. In removing mixture from our houses, we are saying, ‘As for me and my house we will serve the Lord’. Josh 24:15. Our children can grow straight and tall when we commit to obeying the Lord’s word and direction for our lives.