Worship

Scripture

We’ve all had it happen-that point in adulthood where you realize that everything your parents told you was right. From relationship advice all the way down to simple tasks like vacuuming the floor or cutting the grass-their way actually made a lot of sense and we all find ourselves doing it the way they did it more and more with each passing year. Our teenage years are spent in constant rebellion against our parents’ ways and as a parent now, I’ve got to take heart that although my words may leave void, they will not return that way. The advice I give my children now will not prevent them from making mistakes, but it will give them a place to return to. 

In 2 Chronicles 32-34 we find a similar situation. King Hezekiah dies and his son Manasseh comes to the throne at the age of 12-the sweet spot for the beginnings of teenage rebellion. Until he took the throne he had 12 years to see and learn from his father who was considered to be faithful to God. Hezekiah had torn down foreign idols and restored the people’s commitment to God. Chapter 33 outlines a long list of evil things Manasseh does as he takes the throne: he built pagan altars in the Temple of the Lord, sacrificed his own sons in the fire, practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted with mediums and psychics. Needless to say Manasseh was a far cry from his father. Good thing the story doesn’t end there. For Manasseh there is a redemption story, a return to the ways of his father, and a restoration of his commitment to the one true God. 

This story should give all of us hope, for we have all gone astray and have been in great need of a return to our father’s ways. A return to the Lord and a return to those wonderful truths our parents so diligently tried to instill in us. Take heart parents and be sure to give your children a legacy of faith to return to!

Prayer

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God’s grace saves us, and God’s grace changes us. Where do you need His grace today?

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