Stone Mountain and faithful obedience
I don't know why this trip last weekend to Stone Mountain park made me think so much, but here is another application, this time to child-rearing (and covenant faithfulness!).
As you may know, Stone Mountain is a giant piece of granite that is sticking out of the ground east of Atlanta, Georgia. Three sides of it are quite steep, requiring a Swiss Alps-style cable car to bring you to the top of it. Once deposited upon the mountain top, you are free to wander around seeing the sights. On the three steep sides, there is a fairly stout-looking fence that would prevent anyone who slipped over the side from falling all the way down.
Last week, we were discussing the subject of obedience with our kids, and relating their obedience (both to God and to us) to that of the Israelites right before passing into Canaan. In Deuteronomy 28, Moses is exhorting the people to remain covanentally faithful--and telling them that if they do so, the Lord will bless them far beyond anything their obedience deserves. If, however, they were to neglect God and be unfaithful in their actions, the Lord would bring all kinds of curses upon them.
Children often play on the edge of a firm boundary, and the mountaintop of obedience is no exception. We will set firm rules for our kids only to find them, instead of clustering safely around us, flirting with the very precipice of disobedience. Why do they push it? Why, instead of being as gracious as they can to their brother or sister, do they see how ungracious they can be before receiving a warning from Mom or me? But that is what they do time and again.
Exhortations to faithfulness and obedience, whether from the Lord or from parents, are always given out of grace for the ultimate goodness of those exhorted. This was true of Israel in Deuteronomy 28, and its true of my children today. Neither Israel, nor our children, realize the true danger they are in if they choose to disobey. Perhaps in our parenting, we need to stress this more--obedience is life, and disobedience leads ultimately to folly and death. Last week, I asked our children how comfortable they were playing on the top of Stone Mountain, knowing there was a sturdy fence to keep them from slipping off. Then I asked them what it would be like if there was no fence; where would they play? Would they be as comfortable playing near the edge? Uniformly, they said that they'd stay right at the apex, where it was safest. They realized the danger of straying too far, and reacted to that danger with a move of safety. "Why don't you treat obedience to us like that?" I asked them. The danger is (typologically, at least) the same and, past a certain age, there won't be much of a fence, either. We must exhort them to stay close to the "law" set down by us (and by the Lord)--obey and be faithful, and you will receive abundant life, blessings beyond your dessert. Stray and you will find folly and death. Israel received the same instruction from Yahweh, and we should heed it to. As Jesus said, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love" (John 15:10). "Obey, for my law is life . . ."
As you may know, Stone Mountain is a giant piece of granite that is sticking out of the ground east of Atlanta, Georgia. Three sides of it are quite steep, requiring a Swiss Alps-style cable car to bring you to the top of it. Once deposited upon the mountain top, you are free to wander around seeing the sights. On the three steep sides, there is a fairly stout-looking fence that would prevent anyone who slipped over the side from falling all the way down.
Last week, we were discussing the subject of obedience with our kids, and relating their obedience (both to God and to us) to that of the Israelites right before passing into Canaan. In Deuteronomy 28, Moses is exhorting the people to remain covanentally faithful--and telling them that if they do so, the Lord will bless them far beyond anything their obedience deserves. If, however, they were to neglect God and be unfaithful in their actions, the Lord would bring all kinds of curses upon them.
Children often play on the edge of a firm boundary, and the mountaintop of obedience is no exception. We will set firm rules for our kids only to find them, instead of clustering safely around us, flirting with the very precipice of disobedience. Why do they push it? Why, instead of being as gracious as they can to their brother or sister, do they see how ungracious they can be before receiving a warning from Mom or me? But that is what they do time and again.
Exhortations to faithfulness and obedience, whether from the Lord or from parents, are always given out of grace for the ultimate goodness of those exhorted. This was true of Israel in Deuteronomy 28, and its true of my children today. Neither Israel, nor our children, realize the true danger they are in if they choose to disobey. Perhaps in our parenting, we need to stress this more--obedience is life, and disobedience leads ultimately to folly and death. Last week, I asked our children how comfortable they were playing on the top of Stone Mountain, knowing there was a sturdy fence to keep them from slipping off. Then I asked them what it would be like if there was no fence; where would they play? Would they be as comfortable playing near the edge? Uniformly, they said that they'd stay right at the apex, where it was safest. They realized the danger of straying too far, and reacted to that danger with a move of safety. "Why don't you treat obedience to us like that?" I asked them. The danger is (typologically, at least) the same and, past a certain age, there won't be much of a fence, either. We must exhort them to stay close to the "law" set down by us (and by the Lord)--obey and be faithful, and you will receive abundant life, blessings beyond your dessert. Stray and you will find folly and death. Israel received the same instruction from Yahweh, and we should heed it to. As Jesus said, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love" (John 15:10). "Obey, for my law is life . . ."
posted by Baumbach at 4:06 PM
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