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ENVIRONMENTS

My parents were fantastic in a lot of ways.

One of the things they did on a regular basis is they tried to make sure we were in the right environments to thrive - environments we wanted to be in and environments we didn't necessarily want to be in.

  1. They made sure we were in the generic team sports environments - baseball, basketball, football.
  2. They made sure we were in specific sports environments we found interesting -  gymnastics (my sisters), cross country (myself).
  3. They made sure we were in the right classroom environments.

My parents heart was toward us as children to get us in the right environments.

Something similar is happening here in Matthew 19:13

MATTHEW 19:13a

Jesus has just finished a difficult teaching on divorce and he's about to launch into a difficult teaching on wealth, however, the compiler of the Gospel of Matthew fits this little 3-4 verse asise in between. Matthew 19:13 says:

13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray.

The parents/custodians are bringing the children to him hoping that he might lay his hands on them.

There is a tone of here of faith, boldness, bursting through the crowd to get their kids immediately to Jesus.

The parents heart is towards their kids because they know how important it is for kids to be in a Jesus environment.

CHRISTIAN DISCIPLINES

This is one of the reason why a home marked with Christian disciplines is so important.

It's crucial to get the next generation in multi-generational Jesus environments for their growth and maturity.

Two Christian disciplines that come to mind are:

  • Worship in the Home (ie - maybe a song, a scripture reading, and prayer)
  • Worship in the Church (ie - family dedication, communion, and corporate togetherness)

A parents heart towards their kids consists of a commitment to regularly get their kids into these two environments to encounter Jesus.