“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” James 5:16a (NKJV)

I was going to take this verse to the ‘bank’.  For years I struggled with the desires of my heart being idols.  My idols promoted lofty thoughts and feelings that said they could bring me greater joy than God.  God revealed my idolatry to me when I read Elyse Fitzpatrick’s book, Idols of the Heart. That was at least 5 years ago. (sigh).  Recently He showed it to me again. Even though I didn’t feel like placing the desires of my heart at God’s feet, I did.  It made me uncomfortable and even sad because I wondered if this meant I would never receive my heart’s desires. However, this sounded like a lie because God had previously spoken to me about a couple of my desires, but in a promising way.  The problem was that I held them too closely; closer than I held God.

I confessed my idolatry to a couple of Christian friends and they did the same with me.  Every day I cast down the lofty thoughts and feelings and I declared God to be on the throne of my life.  That Sunday in church it dawned on me that I was content!  God delivered me of my idolatry and I didn’t want anything more than Him!  I was so giddy that I thought I would come unglued.

I used to think being transparent was scary but Proverbs 29:25 (NKJV) says, “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.”  I’m sure this verse has more than one application but it spoke to me. The devil wants us to be afraid of confessing our sins to one another because he doesn’t want us to shed our strongholds. He wants us ensnared.  Part of my heart was ensnared because I had elevated the desires of my heart above God’s throne.

Let’s serve God, not only in deeds, but also in our hearts.  We don’t serve Him to get something, but in His generosity He says He will honor those who serve Him (John 12:26).  If there’s anything in your heart that’s not of God, I encourage you to be transparent to a fellow believer that you trust.  Our generous God wants to deliver us and even honor us.  God blessed me with this blog opportunity the day after I was delivered from idolatry.  I consider it an honor.

Shagufta

When my children were small, I used to look at families with older children and think, “I’ll never get that busy.”  I now understand how hard it is to balance kids’ interests, responsibilities, available time and energy, and the importance of letting them just be kids. 

As my kids have gotten older, their interests are more intense and time consuming.  Between commitments to church, music, sports and school, their time is stretched – and so is mine.   Now we are looking at August, back to school and a busy fall.  I know my children will want to be actively involved in everything.  But it’s up to my husband and me to be the gatekeeper for their schedules, and help them set priorities. 

If we model our lives after Jesus, we learn that He incorporated a lot of interests into His day.  He socialized at parties, met new people, spent time with friends, went to church, taught, worked, honored the Sabbath, and He knew when to step out of the demands of the day to rest and pray.  That’s the key.  Jesus knew His priorities, and He knew when He needed to reconnect with His heavenly Father.

As my husband and I try to teach our kids good time stewardship, there are a few things we’ve learned from the life of Jesus and from personal experience that might help you:  

• Talk to your child about the importance of honoring God with our time.  Explain that we are managers (stewards) of the time God has given to us, and we need to use our time wisely, and according to God’s will for our lives.

• Make church attendance a priority.   Consider it a tithe of time.  Give God the first and best part of your week.  We are encouraged to not give up this time of worship and fellowship with believers.

• Set a time of rest during the year.  Pick a season where no extra activities are added on.  In our family it’s summer.  Instead of joining library book clubs, sport’s teams or swim clubs, our activities are based around the family.

• Consider the reasons for taking on a new activity or responsibility.  Is it really because your child wants to do it, or is there influence from a friend?  Talk about this issue.

• Encourage your child to pray about new commitments before making a decision.  Teach your children to ask God for direction, and then expect Him to answer.  Encourage children to take time during the day for personal prayer and Bible reading.

• Check your own motives.  Is it possible you are encouraging your child to pursue an activity that satisfies a personal dream?  Lay your personal lost dreams before the Lord and watch what He will do with them. 

We have a limited time with our children to teach important life skills.  One important skill we can pass on is good time stewardship.  The writer of Ecclesiastes understood the frailty of time, yet the importance of using it wisely.    Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” Help your children learn to seek God’s will for their time as they make decisions about every opportunity.