Sow
Good Seed!
These commandments that I give
you…impress them on your children.
Deuteronomy 6:6, 7
Bethany hiked along the same path each
day. One day she encountered a litter of pups in the path. Instead of
walking, each of them dragged their hind legs. As she walked they
barked, playfully dragging themselves after her. Noticing an older
woman watering a flower garden in the yard the pups had come from,
Bethany crossed the short distance through the brush intending to
strike up a conversation. The pups followed along, yipping at her
feet. “I hope I’m not being too forward,” she began, “but I
was wondering, why do your puppies crawl instead of walk?”
The woman smiled knowingly and nodded
toward the side of the house. “Follow me,” she said, leading
Bethany around the corner. There, lying in the shade on a cushion was
a dog. Bethany could see she was fresh, and assumed her to be the
mother of the puppies.
The woman called, “Dixie?” The dog
rose and headed in their direction…dragging her hind legs. “She
was hit by a car last year,” she explained. “And I couldn’t
bring myself to euthanize her. She had them,” she continued,
pointing at the pups, “and there’s nothing wrong with a single
one of them,” she declared. “I’ve tried to get them to walk
upright, but they want no part of it. They drag their hind legs
because their mother does.”
†
The spiritual implication in today’s
story is a sad, yet unnecessary fact. Children neither understand nor
care when harmful, destructive, or limiting behaviors are being
modeled for them. All they know is that Mommy and Daddy are doing it
and that’s what they want to do.
If we live carelessly so will our
children. Our character defects will be inadvertently, or heedlessly,
passed on to our children. If we fail to teach them how to walk
uprightly, with good moral character and spiritually-grounded ethics
and values, they will reap a harvest of our sowing.
We reap what we sow—much more is
reaped than was sown—and it will be reaped long after the sowing.
Our children deserve a beneficial harvest.
Prayer
“Help me be the best
example I can possibly be for my children and the world, Lord. Guide
my words and deeds. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
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