Does anybody else think the various Easter eggs we used to fill our baskets with were non-delectable?
Most traditional, I suppose, were the boiled eggs that were hand-dyed with the help of the PAAS box. Those were fun to make. You found them in the grass under the burning sun. They were less fun to eat than they were to find. Remember? They were lukewarm on the outside with a cool mossy-outlined yolk.
Then you had those Brachs marshmallow eggs. Sure the were pretty pastel colors, but they tasted like a big chunk of chewy sugar. They were easier to accidentally find if your foot rustled up against their crinkly plastic wrapper. In my opinion, they weren't that easy to eat. Not my favorite.
I remember, in my later egg hunting years, finding a few plastic eggs with jelly beans. (Also, there was the time that room mom made green coconut "nests" and put jellybean "eggs" in them for our Easter treat. Yuck.) Jellybeans weren't all that great; especially when you always seemed to get more black (licorice) ones than the good colors; pink purple, and maybe orange.
The only truly good egg was the prize egg.
My mom tells about an Easter egg hunt where there was a grand prize egg. Still aggravated when she tells it, she says a mom, in a sneaky-like manner, showed her ten-year-old kid where the prize egg was. That egg had five bucks in it. My mom probably wished I'd found it. I wish I'd found it. I wonder if the kid who found it wishes they'd truly found it, instead of their mom finding it for them. We'll never know.
It makes me think of my kids' faith. I remember when our youngest made a salvation decision, I breathed a sigh of relief that now we'd all be together in eternity. But I tell you, that hasn't stopped me from dramatically and persistently dangling the prize egg (of faith) before them. I wave it. I advertise it. I hold it out on a spoon like it's cough medicine, Here take this. It's good for you.
But their faith is just that, their faith. I can't force it on them.
As parents we can be guilty of trying to crowd into space that's already taken. Your kid's faith is an agreement between them and God. They'll either agree that they're sinful and that Christ is Lord, or they won't. Even after they're saved, they'll either agree daily that He is Lord, or they won't.
The thought that they might choose poorly? Isn't that hard to swallow?
In this matter of umost importance, we can make the mistake of attempting to, Vannah White-style, showcase our own faith rather than living a genuine and quiet, yet bold, faith hoping they'll copy. It's what we're not trying to show them, or sell them, that they usually pay attention to.
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness... 1 Peter 3:15
Even if they're not opposed to our standing by the prize egg pointing insistently, we can end up being in the way of them discovering the prize for themselves. It's not the same when we tell them who Christ is and what He's done for them as when they truly see it for themselves. It's like when my kids used to try to show me something on TV but I couldnt see it because they were in the way. Sometimes we have to step back.
Our job is to provide them opportunity upon opportunity to realize what it means to trust in Christ. Their trust doesn't rely on our convincing them. If it did, we couldn't truly boast of the power of God. That opportunity to believe is given to them through our prayer and in calling them to obedience.
In my limited experience with my own children, their faith has been more affected when I pray for them than with them. Not to say that both aren't important, but when I pray for them I can speak of the deep places I'm asking God to reach. I can more easily, and likely more effectively, pray for things like selfish behavior and pridefulness when I'm speaking solely to God, without my kids being a part of the audience.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. I had a young Cocker Spaniel that drowned because a little helper with a water hose just wanted to give her a drink. Just like you make your children go to school and brush their teeth, take them to church (and make sure you're going). Make them participate in certain activities, but give them freedom over their own feelings.
Having them obey and behave is our responsibility. Their feelings about church and God are something we can't control. And we shouldn't try. This is something I learned in a tough teenage season with one of our kids. They didn't want to go to church. I made them go and that was ok. I ultimately realized that I could make them go, but it was detrimental to demand that they like it. Be patient.
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. Revelations 22:17
This Easter, and moment by moment, before and after, provide opportunity for your children to set their eyes on the prize. Just remember to let it be their prize, God's glory, and your joy.
